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| Iraq |
| LEADING SUNNI MP CRITICISES BRITISH PULLOUT OF BASRA |
| 2007-02-24 |
| (AKI) - The decision to withdraw part of the British contingent from southern Iraq was "hasty" and taken "in line with British public opinion but without considering the interests of Iraq" says one of Iraq's leading Sunni politicians, Salim Abdallah al-Jaburi. In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI) al-Jaburi, who is the spokesman of the Iraqi Concord Front said "the withdrawal of foreign troops must be based on the presence of a military formation capable of maintaining security, which at the moment it is not." Regarding fears that the British partial pull out, announced this week, and the complete withdrawal of the Danish contingent, could affect the duration of the US troops' stay, al-Jaburi said: "The US policy is based on the deployment of its own forces in Iraq according to aims that we all know well and this episode will not modify its viewpoint regarding security." "This does not mean that there is a difference of opinion with Britain" he added. In a statement on Thursday, Nouri al-Maliki underlined that the reduction of the British contingent in the Shiite majority south, was decided after consultations with the Baghdad government. Britain's prime minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday the government plans for around 1,600 British troops currently serving in Iraq to leave "in the coming months." Britain's 7,100 contingent will be drawn down to roughly 5,500 "by late summer," he told parliament. There will however be a British military presence in Iraq until 2008, Blair said, to secure borders and carry out specific anti-insurgency operations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Don't tell me the Sunni are scared of what the Shia might do! After all the Hell they've created in Iraq, payback should be fun to watch. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-02-24 12:05 |