Brown Announces July Withdrawal in Baghdad

Brown says troops home by July in surprise Baghdad visit
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 17, 2008 5:47 AM CST
Brown Announces July Withdrawal in Baghdad
An Iraqi army soldier, with an Iraqi flag draped around his shoulders, walks past a British soldier watching a training session at Basra airport, Iraq's second-largest city.   (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Baghdad today and announced that all but a handful of British troops will leave Iraq by July 2009. About 4,000 British service members remain in Iraq, mostly around Basra, though at the height of the war 100,000 were deployed. Since the war began 178 British troops have lost their lives, reports the Times of London. 

The British handed control of Basra to the Iraqis in December 2007, although troops maintain an "overwatch" role. A UN mandate authorizing foreign troops in Iraq expires at the end of the year.
(More Britain stories.)

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