Gordon Brown Visits Iraq for Military Talks

Gordon Brown flew into Baghdad this morning for a series of meetings with Iraq's leaders and David Petraeus, the American general who has led the military "surge" over the past year.

Amid tight security, the prime minister flew by RAF Puma helicopter into Baghdad's "green zone" after an overnight flight to the Iraqi capital via Kuwait.

Brown's visit coincided with a trip by the US Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, to Afghanistan, where he will meet the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.

Obama is later due to travel to Iraq and will meet Brown at Downing Street next week, when the pair are expected to discuss Iraqi troop withdrawal.

Brown, who will update MPs on British troop numbers in a statement on Tuesday, is outlining four "building blocks" of progress in Iraq. Once achieved, these could lead to dramatic reductions - and an eventual withdrawal - of British troops, from the country.

They are:

• Stepping up the training of Iraqi security forces so they can eventually take over the work of the 4,000 British troops stationed at Basra airport on "overwatch" duties

• Political progression to the establishment of provincial elections no later than early next year

• Economic reconstruction to build on the growing strength of the Iraqi economy, which is growing at 7% this year compared to 1% last year. Iraq is now producing 2.5m barrels of oil per day - its highest level since the war in 2003

• Creating the conditions for Iraqis to resume control of Basra airport - the base for British troops in Iraq - so that it can return to full civilian use

Brown began his day in Baghdad by meeting Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shia prime minister, and Jalal Talabani, the country's Kurdish president.

Britain's relations with al-Maliki were strained in March when the Iraqi prime minister launched operation Charge of the Knights to drive Shia militia out of Basra. Iraqi leaders and some American commanders criticized Britain for reducing the number of troops in Basra, Iraq's second largest city. Britain has a garrison of 4,000 troops at Basra airport after they withdrew from the city last September.

Brown will aim to put those tensions behind him this morning when he meets Petraeus and al-Maliki. Petraeus made it clear he wanted to move on when he said in May, after an hour's meeting with the prime minister in Downing Street, that Britain had been "invaluable" in providing intelligence, air and logistics support during the Basra operation.

The prime minister and Britain's military commanders believe great progress has been made since March and that lessons have been learnt on all sides. Britain has trained 10,000 Iraqi troops from the 10th and 14th Iraqi divisions.

The American-led surge - and the success against Shia militias in Basra - has also led to a major improvement in security. There have been an average of five rocket attacks on British troops in Basra a month since April, compared with 200 last summer. In 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces, responsibility for security has been passed to the Iraqis. This has happened in all four provinces under British control.

Brown hopes that success in training Iraqi forces will allow him to cut British troop numbers, possibly next year when there is a new president in the White House. Britain had hoped to reduce its troop numbers to 2,500 this spring. But this was postponed after the difficulties of the March offensive.

Petraeus said that Iraqi troops had got off to a "shaky start" during the March Basra operation. He said: "Some were not equal to the task."

The prime minister's visit is timed to allow him to update MPs on Britain's troop commitments before parliament rises for the summer recess on Tuesday. He will tread carefully in what he says after suffering political damage last October when he was accused by the Tories of making politically sensitive comments about troops during a visit to Iraq during the Conservative conference week.

Brown's visit comes on the eve of Obama's first visit to Iraq since he won the Democratic nomination for the White House. Obama's opposition to the Iraq war - and his pledge to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office - could help Brown reduce the number of British troops.

But Obama has recently begun to "refine" his position on Iraq. The Democratic frontrunner, who will also visit Afghanistan on his trip, said earlier this month that he would conduct a "thorough assessment" of plans to withdraw a combat brigade from Iraq every month.

Brown will meet Obama in London next week when the Democratic candidate ends his tour with a swing through Europe, to Britain, France and Germany. The prime minister is likely to raise one of his main themes for Iraq and the broader Middle East - economic reconstruction.

Britain is taking a close interest in the Basra Investment Promotion Agency and the Basra Development Fund, both designed to stimulate private sector development. Britain is also promoting the renovation of the Umm Quasr port.

Brown had hoped to cut British troops in Iraq to 2,500 by this spring. But the prime minister shelved that - and British troops returned to the center of Baghdad - when Britain was largely ignored during the anti-Shia militia operation in March.