Britain may cut its force in Iraq by half by the middle of next year after handing over security responsibility for the south to Iraqis within nine months, a senior British commander said today.
The commander said Britain would leave "quite a significantly smaller force than we've got now, but probably in the region of 3,000 to 4,000 people based in a single location".
He was speaking at a briefing arranged by the Defence Ministry on condition that he not be identified.
Britain handed over responsibility for one of the southern provinces it controls to Iraqi forces in July and the commander said it hoped to hand over a second province next month.
Most of Britain's 7,000 troops in Iraq are based in the second city of Basra, where the commander said a transition to Iraqi control could take place in the first quarter of 2007.
"These are all conditions-based, subject to a variety of factors, but in terms of the tactical plan and the competence of the Iraqi army, it is perfectly feasible," the officer said.
He said the first one thousand British troops could start returning home in the next four to six months, in part representing forces being drawn down from Maysan province, where Britain has already begun moving out of its main base.
The 3,000 to 4,000-strong British force would remain in the Basra area after the handover "to protect our investment" in security in the mainly-Shi'ite south and show support for U.S. troops still facing security problems in other areas, he added