Australia downplays expected British troop reduction in Iraq (Roundup)

Feb 21, 2007, 5:47 GMT

Sydney - Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Wednesday downplayed an expected announcement from Britain that it would scale down its military presence in Iraq.

Howard said he had known about the plan for some time and that it was understandable given that the British would reduce their troop numbers while the Americans increased theirs.

'And anybody who studies Iraq for five minutes knows that patrolling Baghdad is infinitely more challenging than patrolling Basra,' Howard said. 'That's the reason why the Americans are increasing their numbers, and the reason - because of the relative improvement in Basra - the British are reducing their numbers.'

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stressed that it was not a wholesale pull-out but a reduction in numbers.

'They will be leaving several thousand troops in Iraq, and the important point to make here is the British are not withdrawing from Iraq,' Downer said. 'What we are all trying to do is increasingly transfer responsibility for the security to the Iraqi security forces.'

Australia joined Britain and Poland in committing troops for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and still has 1,400 soldiers serving there. Earlier this week, Canberra announced it was increasing its presence with the deployment of up to 70 additional military personnel to help train the Iraqi army.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is believed to have informed US President George W Bush that some of Britain's 7,000 soldiers would soon begin a phased withdrawal from Iraq. Those soldiers are mostly in the relatively peaceful southern city of Basra.

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the British move was a sign of progress.

'Under no circumstances should anybody interpret the British having 5,000 troops in Basra, 10 times the Australian number, looking after the same number of provinces, as any kind of cut and run,' Nelson told reporters. 'In fact, what this is evidence of is the fact that in the south of Iraq, we are making progress and the British are confident enough to reduce their troop numbers to around 5,000.'

Nelson denied that Blair's plan was diametrically opposed to Washington's policy of sending more troops to Iraq.

'People ought to remember that 60 per cent of the violence comes from Baghdad and al-Anbar province, where al-Qaeda is particularly active,' the defence minister said, speaking of the eastern province that is Iraq's largest.

Prime Minister John Howard has consistently refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of Australian troops.