Britain to 'quit Iraq soon'

2005-06-22 21:46

Brussels - Britain hopes to withdraw its troops from Iraq "as quickly as possible", but plans to do so only when it is sure Iraqi forces can cope with the security threat, said foreign secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference on the war-scarred country, he also reiterated that Britain was "ashamed" of prisoner abuses carried out by United States and British forces, but maintained its call for Iraqi human rights standards to improve.

Straw's comments on British troop withdrawals came two days after a top US commander said they would start to pull their forces out by next March.

Straw said: "All Iraqis, as well as all the governments supporting the US-led coalition, want the same thing: they want the foreign troops out of Iraq and they want the Iraqis to be able to look after their own security.

"The only issue is how quickly that can be done. The answer to that is that it can be done very much faster the sooner we all are able to overcome the terrorist threat."

Iraq to take responsibility for security

Regarding Britain's plans, Straw declined to speculate on dates.

"We want to see our troops being able to leave as quickly as possible.

"But, we have a responsibility to the Iraqi people and that is to ensure that, as we leave, they are able to take over full responsibility for their own security."

The British minister also went out of his way to emphasise the need for human-rights standards to improve in Iraq.

Questioned about abuses involving US forces in Abu Ghraib Prison and by British forces in southern Iraq, he acknowledged shame - but insisted that should not cloud his human-rights call.

He said: "There have been abuses, which appallingly have taken place within the US field of command and in the United Kingdom's, and we're ashamed of that.

"But, those abuses are measured in both the US and the UK against high human-rights standards. The problem in the Saddam regime was that there were no human-rights standards."

- AFP