British troops could be serving in Iraq until as late as 2012, a UK newspaper reported, quoting a confidential planning document. The information comes from the Operational Tour Plot, a confidential planning document drawn up by defence chiefs and circulated last month, which lists which units are to be sent on operations when, the paper said. The report contradicts the impression given by Prime Minister Tony Blair when he announced Britain's first major troop reduction in Iraq in February. Blair announced that numbers of British troops -- the United States' main ally in the 2003 invasion -- would be cut from 7,100 to 5,500 by the middle of the year. He added that British forces would remain in Basra "into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do," but the report suggests that the deployment may be considerably longer than that.
Two of four provinces in southern Iraq are now under Iraqi forces' control, while Maysan is due to be handed over later this month. Basra province will be controlled by the Iraqi military from later this year. The report comes three days after four British soldiers were killed in an attack in Basra. The attack brought the British death toll in the country to 140 and prompted renewed media questioning of Blair's strategy over Iraq, criticism of which has dogged the latter years of his premiership.