UK hands control of Basra to Iraqi forces
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BASRA, Iraq  - Britain handed over security in Basra province to Iraqi forces on Sunday, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq.
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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 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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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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THE US had asked Britain to redeploy troops stationed in the UK-controlled zone in southern Iraq, the Ministry of Defence confirmed today.
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After handing control of Basra province to Iraqi authorities at the weekend, British officials are hoping the region's economic development will hasten its path towards stability.
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US troops in the Iraqi province of Karbala are to hand over security to Iraqi forces next week, officials say.
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Britain will reduce its contingent of just over 7,000 troops in Iraq by almost half in May as it hands the main province of Basra over to Iraqi army and security forces, a newspaper reported.
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British forces formally handed over responsibility for Basra province Sunday, the last region in Iraq under their control.
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British forces surround Basra and close its border with Iran in support of Iraq's new security plan.
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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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The final withdrawal of British troops in Iraq from their Basra base is almost complete, sources tell the BBC.
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Iraqi and British troops begin an operation to purge Shia militias from the police force in Basra city.
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Al-Qaeda's deputy leader says the UK handover of security in Basra shows Iraqi insurgents are gaining strength.
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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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British forces may hand over security responsibilities in Basra to Iraqi forces by the spring, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Wednesday.
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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.