The headquarters and two companies of British army paratroopers have been moved from north Belfast and will now be held "in reserve" within Northern Ireland, in what is seen as one of the first indications of a security scale-down in republican areas since the IRA ceasefire.
An army spokeswoman said the decision was taken "as a result of a reduced level of tasking in the current security situation" and with the full support of the RUC.
It follows weekend reports that military patrolling in republican areas was to be reduced. A police spokesman said yesterday that security levels "were constantly under review".
SDLP and Sinn Fein politicians have condemned the continued high level of security in nationalist areas, more than three months after the second IRA ceasefire was announced.