Source:
ap Britain to pull 1,000 troops from Iraq
By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago
BASRA, Iraq - Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Tuesday that he was slashing the remaining British contingent in Iraq by nearly 20 percent. A beleaguered Iraqi leader said his own forces would be ready to take up the slack in the country's oil-rich southernmost province in two months.
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The roadways are a vital lifeline for U.S. forces. And everything that the Americans can't fly out of the country when they eventually leave must make the long and potentially dangerous road journey to Kuwait through Basra province.
Brown is said to be contemplating early elections in Britain, where the war is deeply unpopular. He arrived in Baghdad midmorning and went straight into a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki.
"We are prepared to take over security of Basra within two months and we will," al-Maliki said after the meeting in his Green Zone office. "Basra will be one of the provinces where Iraqi forces will completely take over security."
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