Iraq:British troops were to pull out of a base at a palace in the southern Iraqi city of Basra late last night, a British ministry of defence source said.
The withdrawal is a step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and paving the way for a withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.
"The troops are coming out," the source said.
About 500 of Britain's 5,500 soldiers in Iraq are stationed at Basra Palace, a palace built for Saddam Hussein in the centre of Iraq's second city.
They are expected to pull back to the vast British air base on the outskirts of the city. It has long been expected that the British would withdraw its small, vulnerable garrison from the city and consolidate at the airport.
The withdrawal means the end of a British presence in the volatile city for the first time since the US-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The Sunday Timesreported yesterday that Britain was preparing to hand over control of Basra province to the Iraqi army as early as next month, enabling most British soldiers to leave Iraq.
Meanwhile, a second retired British general has said that US plans for handling Iraq after the 2003 invasion were "fatally flawed". Major-Gen Tim Cross joined Gen Mike Jackson, head of the British army during the invasion, who was quoted by the Daily Telegraphon Saturday as describing the US approach as "intellectually bankrupt".
The unusually outspoken comments follow weeks of US commentary suggesting that British forces had failed in southern Iraq and were set to flee.
- (Reuters)