“Substantial” British troop withdrawal next year- paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: British Defense Secretary John Hutton spoke of his country’s plans for a “substantial” withdrawal of troops from Iraq early next year, The Boston Globe wrote in a report on Wednesday. “‘We’ve got two very finite and clear missions [in Iraq]. They are progressing well and we hope in the early part of next year we can make some very significant decisions about UK force levels in Iraq,'” the report quoted Hutton as telling British legislators. “He said one mission, training an Iraqi Army division, would be mostly completed early next year. He hoped the second task, handing Basra airport to Iraqi authorities, would be largely finished by the end of this year.” “‘Our mission I think is clear. It will be completed, I hope, in the early part of next year,’ said Hutton, who was appointed defense minister this month,” the report noted. “‘If the security environment were to deteriorate, then we would have to look very seriously at all of these issues, but at the moment we are on track’,” Hutton added. “Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in July he expected a ‘fundamental change of mission’ for British troops in Iraq early next year, but Hutton’s comments were the government’s clearest signal that most of Britain’s force will come home next year,” according to the newspaper. SS (S)/SR 1