UK: No plans to quit Iraq
2007-07-29 14:34
London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not unveil a plan for an early withdrawal of British troops from Iraq in talks with US President George W Bush on
Sunday, Brown's spokesperson said.
Brown sets out later on Sunday for his first meeting with Bush since succeeding Tony Blair as prime minister last month.
Speculation has been rife in British media that Brown could distance himself from Blair's policy on Iraq. Opposition to the war contributed to the pressure on Blair, a staunch supporter of US policy there, to step down early after a decade in power.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported a senior aide to Brown had sounded out Washington on the possibility of an early British troop withdrawal from Iraq.
It said Simon McDonald, Brown's chief foreign policy advisor, had left the impression he was "doing the groundwork" for Brown when he asked a group of US experts this month what
they believed the effect of a British pullout would be.
However, Brown's spokesperson told reporters the prime minister
would not unveil a plan to withdraw British troops, who are due
to remain in southern Iraq until the Iraqi army is capable of
maintaining security.
"Simon McDonald made very clear at the meeting that the
British government's position had not changed," the spokesman
said in London prior to Brown's departure.
However, he said that decisions "clearly have to be made" on
when to hand over control of Basra to Iraqi forces.
The head of the British military said on Thursday that
Britain should be in a position to hand over control of Basra by
the end of the year.
In a statement on the eve of his departure, Brown dismissed
talk of cooler relations with Washington, saying the bond
between the countries remained strong.
"It is a relationship that is founded on our common values
of liberty, opportunity and the dignity of the individual," he
said. "And because of the values we share, the relationship with
the United States is not only strong but can become stronger in
the years ahead."
Brown will hold talks with Bush at Camp David before
travelling to New York for a meeting with United Nations'
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Brown will also give a speech at
the United Nations.
Brown's office said talks with Bush would cover the Middle
East peace process, the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region,
Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, climate change and how to
reinvigorate global trade liberalisation talks.