Basra withdrawal 'not a defeat'
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The officer overseeing the withdrawal of UK troops from central Basra says it was an "important step".
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A former member of the Black Watch believes the regiment is ready for its move to a more hostile area of Iraq. On Wednesday, more than 800 soldiers from the battalion began moving out of Basra towards an area south of Baghdad.
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LONDON, Sept. 3 -- British troops completed a withdrawal from downtown Basra on Monday, moving to an airport outside the city, their last base in Iraq. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the move part of a British strategy to shift from combat to an "overwatch" role.
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BASRA, Iraq  - Britain handed responsibility for security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of the southern part of Iraq.
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British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Sunday hailed the transfer of security control in Basra province to Iraqi forces as "a major step forward."
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged Tuesday to keep Britain's Iraq policy in line with that of the United States, seeking to allay fears the country's move out of the southern city of Basra marked the start of a major withdrawal.
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Britain's decision to "flee" Iraq shows the insurgency is stronger than ever, Al-Qaeda's number two said Sunday, after British forces transferred security control in Basra province to the Iraqis.
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The operation to hand over security in Basra to Iraqi forces has been completed successfully, Tony Blair says.
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BAGHDAD, Dec. 12 -- The outgoing top U.S.  operational commander in Iraq said on Tuesday that military might alone would not win the war  and that the withdrawal of U.S. troops would not happen quickly.
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Newspapers sounded a sombre note on Monday, tempering their enthusiasm for the handover of the southern province of Basra to Iraqi control, which they characterised as a retreat.
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UK forces are to hand back control of security in Basra province to Iraq, four-and-a-half years after the invasion.
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Iraq will not take immediate steps to expel U.S. security firm Blackwater, under investigation over a shooting which killed 11 Iraqis a week ago, a government security official said on Sunday.
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British troops have begun pulling out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra in a move north to take over operations previously carried out by US forces.
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BASRA, Iraq  - British troops quit the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, an Iraqi general said, leaving the oil hub without British forces for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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Why the approach that seems to have worked in Anbar province may not pay off elsewhere
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Frattini s comments contradict statements made by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said Tuesday the Italian government won t withdraw troops from Iraq following threats of attack by an armed group that ...
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he was not disappointed that a two-day conference on the future of Iraq, hosted by his country earlier this week, failed to set a date for the withdrawal of foreign troops.