There are in fact no plans for withdrawing British front-line troops to a new base in Kuwait. In the longer term, the British government hopes to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq in accordance with our intention to transfer control to the government of Iraq and its security forces," Laing added.
Laing said British authorities would reduce the number of forces in Iraq in the future in coordination with their allies in the coalition and with the Iraqi authorities. "We remain fully committed to Iraq and our forces will stay as long as the Iraqi government requests our assistance and until the necessary conditions for a handover to the Iraqi security forces have been met," he added.
Press reports have claimed that London planned the withdrawal of British forces serving in southern Iraq to Kuwait. The British forces have recently pulled out of Basra city.
