British defense minister in Basra

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: British Defense Secretary John Hutton arrived in the southern Iraq port city of Basra on Monday to visit his country’s forces there, an official source within the Multi-National Force (MNF) in southern Iraq said. “Hutton arrived on Monday morning at al-Sheiba military base, west of Basra, where he will meet with a number of officials in the province,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The visit is part of the British defense secretary’s schedule,” the source said, not revealing more details. An Iraqi defense ministry source had said on Sunday that Hutton arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and met his Iraqi counterpart Abdelqadir al-Obeidi; the head of the Iraqi Navy, Commodore Mohammed Jawad; and a ministry spokesperson, Staff Maj. Gen. Sami al-Askari. Hutton, the former business secretary, was appointed as Britain’s new defense secretary in a cabinet reshuffle on October 3. AmR (P) 1