Britain plans to pull out nearly all its soldiers from Iraq by the summer of 2008 and begin withdrawals within weeks, a top military commander said in an interview published today.
Lieut Gen Nick Houghton, Britain's most senior officer in Iraq, outlined a phased two-year withdrawal plan in an interview with the Daily Telegraphnewspaper.
"There is a fine line between staying too long and leaving too soon," he was quoted 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.
But Lieut Gen 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.
He said the proposals had been agreed with US military chiefs, but were not set in stone.
The commander repeated the long-held position in Washington and London that his forces would only leave once security could be handed over to Iraqi forces.
Last Sunday, the US military in Iraq said media reports that the United States and Britain planned to pull out all their troops by the spring of 2007 were "completely false" and said there was no timetable for withdrawal.