By Xinhua
London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown met visiting U.S. General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in No. 10 Downing Street on Tuesday for talks over Iraq just a week after the general delivered an upbeat assessment of the impact of the Pentagon’s “surge tactics” in Iraq.
Brown discussed the security situation in Iraq with Petraeus, including in Basra city, which remains stable following the handover of Basra Palace, the Downing Street said in a statement.
During the meeting, Brown reiterated that like America, Britain will discharge its duties to the Iraqi people, its allies and to the international community, the statement added.
According to the Sky News, General Petraeus briefed his upbeat assessment of stability in Iraq in the wake of the “surge” of U.S. forces at the London-based think tank – Royal United Services Institute before the talks with Brown.
Petraeus praised “the great contribution made by British troops,” and endorsed Britain’s gradual withdrawal from Basra.
And he reaffirmed plans for Britain to give Iraqi security forces control of Basra province later this year.
“In the four southern provinces of Iraq, under the British led multinational division, the transition to overwatch is already well along,” said he.
“At this point in all four of the southern provinces Iraqi security forces with limited coalition assistance are providing security in the face of militia challenges and Iranian efforts to achieve greater influence,” said the general.
But Petraeus warned against calls for premature withdrawal, which he said would have “devastating consequences.”
Currently, Britain has some 5,500 troops in southern Iraq. In early September, about 500 British troops stationed at Basra Palace built for Saddam Hussein moved back to Basra airport in the city’s outskirts.
Basra is the last of five provinces in British sphere of operations in southern Iraq yet to move to local Iraqi control. And British withdrawal from Basra Palace, on the banks of the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, was part of the process of handing over to Iraqi security forces. And it will be seen as symbolic as pressure mounts on Brown to announce a timetable for Britain’s forces to pull out of Iraq altogether.
According to the report by The Sunday Times, Britain was preparing to hand over control of Basra province to the Iraqi army as early as next month, enabling most of the 5,500 British soldiers to leave Iraq.