"I do not believe it is right to give precise numbers, nor to assume what the next 12 months will hold. But I can tell you that by the end of next year I expect numbers of British forces in Iraq to be significantly lower - by a matter of thousands. The planning for this has been going on for some months.''
Britain's Defense Secretary announced yesterday that the planned pull-out of thousands of British troops from Iraq will be completed by the end of 2007. There's to be no "time-table." Rather, the troop withdrawal will take place in phases, starting with handing over security in Basra to Iraqi forces in the spring.
