Troop numbers in Iraq could be reduced by the US and Britain early next year.
President George W Bush has authorised new cuts in US combat troops to below the regular level of 138,000, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on a lightning trip to Iraq yesterday that a scaling down of British troops could begin within six months.
Mr Blair, on his fourth trip to Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, said good progress was being made in training Iraqi security and police forces and the situation is now "entirely different".
Speaking to troops in Fallujah, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said two brigades due to be deployed soon will not now travel to Iraq.
"The effect of these adjustments will reduce forces in Iraq by the spring of 2006 below the current high of 160,000 during the election period to below the 138,000 baseline that had existed before the most recent elections," Mr Rumsfeld said.
The Pentagon has indicated that a reduction of around 7,000 combat troops is being envisaged.
Mr Blair said the reductions were under strong consideration because Iraqis enhanced capability to manage their own security. He said a around 8,000 British troops, most of them stationed in the south-east near Basra, may return home.
Asked if six months was a viable time for a withdrawal to begin, Mr Blair said: "If everything goes to plan. It is our strategy, we want to draw down our own forces."
"This is a completely different situation from the situation a year ago," he added.
But he said they would only leave once Iraqis were able to keep the peace. "You don't set an arbitrary timetable. You assess when the job is done," he said.
The Prime Minister was speaking after meeting US and British military chiefs to discuss the security situation after last week's Iraqi election.
Additional reporting Reuters