Iraq troop numbers to be reduced

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The Prime Minister told the Commons that the general training and mentoring of Iraqi combat troops in 14th Division should be completed around the turn of the year.

At the same time, he said Iraqis should be able to take over control of Basra Airport, where the remaining British force is based, by the end of this year.

"As we complete these tasks - and as progress continues across these different areas - we will continue to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq," he said.

Mr Brown said that he expected to see a "fundamental change of mission" in the first months of next year as Britain moved to a more normal bilateral relationship with Iraq.

Mr Brown said that the security situation in Basra had been "transformed" since Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki launched Operation Charge of the Knights against the militias in the city last March.

As a result, it was now hoped that local government elections could be held before the end of the year while the Basra Development Commission - co-chaired by British businessman Michael Wareing - was due to present its plan for economic reconstruction in the autumn.

Once the combat training of the Iraqi 14th Division was completed, Mr Brown said that British troops would move on the specific tasks of mentoring the headquarters and other specialist tasks. Overall, the 14th Division should be fully trained by the early months of 2009.

With 4,100 British troops still in Iraq, Mr Brown acknowledged that the reduction in force levels had not been as rapid as had been previously planned.

He said a decision had been taken to "pause" the drawdown of troops so they could support the Iraqi operation Charge of the Knights.