UK troops plan Iraqi pullout by mid-2008 - general

[cal04]

Britain plans to pull out nearly all its soldiers from Iraq by the summer of 2008, with the first withdrawals within weeks, a top military commander said in an interview published on Tuesday. Lieutenant General Nick Houghton, Britain's most senior officer in Iraq, outlined a phased two-year withdrawal plan in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"There is a fine line between staying too long and leaving too soon," he was quoted as saying. "A military transition over two years has a reasonable chance of avoiding the pitfalls of overstaying our welcome but gives us the best opportunity of consolidating the Iraqi security forces."

Britain has given no firm timetable for the withdrawal of its 8,000 troops in Iraq, based in and around the southern port of Basra. Houghton said the timeline would work only if Iraqi politicians elected in the December general election formed a national unity government and sectarian tensions did not worsen.

"It is reversible to an extent as there will be residual coalition forces present who can maintain a very low profile," he said. "There may be a need to go back in somewhere." He said the proposals had been agreed with U.S. military chiefs, but were not set in stone. Houghton repeated the long-held position in Washington and London that his forces would only leave once security could be handed over to Iraqi forces.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-03-07T004309Z_01_L23677461_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-BRITAIN-TROOPS.xml&rpc=22

Most British troops should have been withdrawn from Iraq by the summer of 2008 under a phased plan disclosed to The Daily Telegraph yesterday by the most senior Army officer in Baghdad. The first movements could come within weeks, said Lt Gen Nick Houghton. The process will involve a four-stage disengagement that is scheduled to begin this spring, or at the latest by the end of the summer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/07/nirq07.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/03/07/ixportaltop.html