Britain to pull troops from Iraq

· Defence Secretary confident withdrawal will start in May
· Plan follows pressure for exit strategy

"British troops will start a major withdrawal from Iraq next May under detailed plans on military disengagement to be published next month, The Observer can reveal.

"The document being drawn up by the British government and the US will be presented to the Iraqi parliament in October and will spark fresh controversy over how long British troops will stay in the country. Tony Blair hopes that, despite continuing and widespread violence in Iraq, the move will show that there is progress following the conflict of 2003.

"Britain has already privately informed Japan - which also has troops in Iraq - of its plans to begin withdrawing from southern Iraq in May, a move that officials in Tokyo say would make it impossible for their own 550 soldiers to remain.

"The increasingly rapid pace of planning for British military disengagement has been revealed on the eve of the Labour Party conference, which will see renewed demands for a deadline for withdrawal. It is hoped that a clearer strategy on Iraq will quieten critics who say that the government will not be able to 'move on' until Blair quits. Yesterday, about 10,000 people demonstrated against the army's continued presence in the country."
Observer

Update: Blair denies Iraq pull-out date ... "The prime minister also told Andrew Marr he had not expected the 'ferocity' of resistance from Middle East elements following the invasion of Iraq." He must be kidding, or else he had his head pretty far up his arse before he invaded, because everyone else expected it.

Tagged: uk, britain, usa, iraq, war, peace, activism