almotamar.net Google News - LONDON (AFX) - British forces in Basra will be reduced to 5,500 from the present level of 7,100, said Prime Minister Tony Blair.
In a statement to parliament, Blair said over the coming months UK forces 'will transfer more of the responsibility directly to Iraqis'.
'None of this will mean a diminution in our combat capability. The actual reduction in Forces will be from the present 7,100 - itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict - to roughly 5,500,' he said.
'However, with the exception of forces which will remain at Basra Palace, the British forces will be located at Basra Air Base and be in a support role. They will transfer Shaibah Logistics Base, the Old State Building and the Shaat Al'Arab Hotel to full Iraqi control.'
Blair said that 'over time and depending naturally on progress and the capability' of Iraqi security forces, Britain hoped to further cut troop numbers below 5,000 'once the Basrah Palace site has been transferred to the Iraqis in late summer'.
'We hope that Maysan Province will reach this state over the next few months, and that Basra can be transferred to full Iraqi control in the second half of the year,' he said.
'The UK military presence will continue into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do. Increasingly our role will be support and training, and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly.
'What all of this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be. But it does mean that the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by Iraqis. I have discussed this with Prime Minister Maliki and our proposals have his full support and indeed represent his wishes.'
Blair also said British Forces that remain in Iraq will train and support Iraqi Forces, secure the Iraq/Iran border and supply routes.
Blair conceded the coalition faced a tough task in trying to quell the insurgency throughout the country and the wider Gulf and Middle East, adding that the West had for 'too long' turned a blind eye to dictators in the region because those regimes 'were on our side'.
He also called for international support for the embattled government of Lebanon 'to those countries...who are taking the first fledgling steps to a different and more democratic governance'.
However, he warned that two large players in the region, Iran and Syria, 'should not be treated as if the same'.
'There is evidence recently that Syria has realised the threat Al Qaida poses and is acting against it. But its intentions towards Iraq remain ambiguous and towards Lebanon hostile.'
He added that statements emanating from Iran were 'contradictory'.
'But both countries - though very different - have a clear choice: work with the international community or defy it,' he said.
'They can support peace in Palestine, democracy in Lebanon, the elected government of Iraq - in which case they will find us willing to respond; or they can undermine every chance of progress, uniting with the worst and most violent elements, in which case they will become increasingly isolated, politically and economically.'