BBC: Blair to pull 1,500 troops in Iraq

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce today a new timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, British media reported.

Blair also will tell the House of Commons during his regular weekly appearance there that a total of 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007 if the security there is sufficient, the BBC and the Sun newspaper said, quoting government officials who were not further identified.

The BBC said Blair was not expected to say when the rest of Britain's forces would leave Iraq. The country now has about 7,100 troops there.

The announcement comes as President Bush is increasing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq by about 21,000, but as some members of the U.S.-led coalition are pulling out: The Italians and Slovaks have left, and the Danes and the South Koreans want to start withdrawing.

Blair and Bush spoke by secure video link yesterday, and National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the president viewed Britain's troop cutbacks as "a sign of success" in Iraq.

"While the United Kingdom is maintaining a robust force in southern Iraq, we're pleased that conditions in Basra have improved sufficiently that they are able to transition more control to the Iraqis," Johndroe said in Washington.

Britain has long been the most important coalition member in Iraq after the United States. But Blair knows the British public and politicians from his Labor Party want the troops out as quickly as possible, and do not want to see Britain stick with the United States in Iraq for the long haul.

Militarily, a British withdrawal is not likely to have much effect on the stepped-up U.S. operation in Baghdad or the war with Sunni insurgents in western Iraq's Anbar province. However, Iraqi forces could have a tough time maintaining security in mostly Shiite southern Iraq, including the city of Basra.

Blair's Downing Street office declined to comment on the report, which also said the prime minister would tell the Commons that the plan could change if the situation on the ground worsened.

A British government official confirmed that Blair would make a statement to the Commons today on the status of British forces in Iraq. The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Johndroe said that "the United States shares the same goal of turning responsibility over to the Iraqi security forces and reducing the number of American troops in Iraq. . . . President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad.

"We want to bring our troops home as well," Johndroe said. "It's the model we want to emulate, to turn over more responsibilities to Iraqis and bring our troops home. That's the goal, and always has been."

Besides Britain, according to the Brookings Institution, other partners in the coalition include South Korea (2,300 troops), Poland (900), Australia and Georgia (both 800), Romania (600) and Denmark (460).

Blair, who has said he will step down as prime minister by September after a decade in power, has seen his foreign-policy record overshadowed by his role as Bush's leading ally in the war.

Last month, Blair said he would report to lawmakers on his future strategy in Iraq after the completion of Operation Sinbad, a British-Iraqi mission targeting police corruption and militia influence in Basra. The operation was completed Sunday, and Blair's spokesman called it a success.

Treasury chief Gordon Brown, who is likely to succeed Blair, has said he hoped several thousand British soldiers would be withdrawn by December