Iraq takes control of Basra from British army
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Iraq formally took over 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.
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British soldiers began withdrawing Sunday from their last base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, paving the way for fresh troop cuts and fueling worries about the security of the country's second-largest city and the surrounding region.
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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.
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British troops have begun pulling out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra in a move north to central Iraq. The 1st Battalion The Black Watch is to take over operations previously carried out by US troops in
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British troops will formally take a back seat to Iraqi forces in the southern province of Basra on Sunday with the handover of security responsibility to government troops.
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Iraq's government has formally taken over the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, a government spokesman said Saturday.
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LONDON, Sept. 21 -- The commander of the British army said Friday that the recent withdrawal of British forces from downtown Basra was part of a "successful" strategic plan for Iraq and not the result of pressure from Shiite militias.
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Britain's weekend handover of Basra province will have a limited effect on security in Iraq's biggest oil region because rival Shiite warlords and local officials have been wielding the real power in the area.
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BASRA, Iraq  - British troops quit the Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, leaving the southern 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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British troops moved north from Basra  Wednesday to take over a deadly area near Baghdad and free up  U.S. troops for a possible attack on Falluja.
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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.
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BASRA, Iraq  - British troops withdrew Saturday from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's main office in the southern city of Basra, a day after occupying the building and seizing an arms cache in fighting that killed three and wounded five, the British military and police said.
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Today the British army formally transfers command to the Iraqis, but factional warfare is growing
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British troops and armour have rolled north from Basra to take over a deadly area near Baghdad and free up US troops for a widely expected attack on the Iraqi rebel-held city of Falluja.
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BASRA, Iraq  - Britain will transfer 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 troops are pulling out of a base  at a palace in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Sunday, a  British Ministry of Defense source said.
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Britain could transfer control of the southern city of Basra to Iraqi authorities early next year, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said, but aides downplayed prospects of a rapid pullout.