UK may hand over Basra in spring
240245
The UK may transfer control of Basra to the Iraqi forces next spring, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett says.
420163
Iraq formally took security control of the southern oil province of Basra from British forces on Sunday, paving the way for Britain to sharply reduce its nearly 5,000-strong troop presence.
689481
Defence secretary confirms planning is under way for UK troops to leave southern Iraqi province.
15041
The commander of British troops in southern Iraq has revealed Saturday details of how they would pull out of the city of Basra and leave the way clear for Iraqi units to take control.
169439
London - Britain agreed on Thursday to meet a United States request and redeploy a battalion of British troops into volatile central Iraq, despite strong opposition within the governing Labour Party.
75085
Under emergency plans drawn up by the British Force headquarters in Basra, in southern Iraq ( news - web sites ), 650 soldiers from the Black Watch regiment could be moved to the location earmarked by the US 20 ...
331862
BASRA, Iraq  - British troops were quitting the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Sunday night in another step towards handing over the province to Iraqi control and paving the way for an eventual withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.
378589
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband Sunday hailed the transfer of security control in Basra province to Iraqi forces as "a major step forward."
457513
Security control for a province that was once Iraq's most dangerous could transfer to Iraqi forces by March, say officials.
477464
The handover of the oil-rich province of Basra by the British military to Iraqi forces will not diminish Britain's role in Iraq, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday.
629057
Britain will soon announce it is bolstering its force in Afghanistan with an extra 1,000 soldiers, British media reported Friday, days after the country said it plans to withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq in coming months.
531577
Responding to a US request, Britain agreed yesterday to transfer 850 troops from relatively calm southern Iraq into a stronghold of the Iraqi insurgency near Baghdad.
694253
Several British newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corp. have reported that London is considering sending 600 soldiers from the Black Watch regiment in relatively peaceful Basra to bolster U.S. operations ...
628889
British troops today handed over responsibilty for security in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, a major landmark in the scaling-back of the foreign military presence nearly five years on from the U.S.-led invasion. "As you step up, we step back," British commander, Maj. Gen. Graham Binns, told Iraqi leaders.
128219
London is considering a request by Washington to redeploy a small number of British soldiers in Iraq to allow US forces carry out massive operations, the UK defense minister told parliament Monday.
325550
Britain's military deployment in southern Iraq is to be cut by 500 to 5,000 over the next few months, the Ministry of Defence announced yesterday, just six days after British troops withdrew from their base at Basra Palace.
637354
British troops moved from Basra on  Wednesday to take over an area near Baghdad in a move that  could set the stage for a U.S. attack on rebel-held Falluja.