London: Britain will withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq within the coming months, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in London on Wednesday.
Announcing the country's first large-scale troop withdrawal from Iraq since the 2003 war, Blair told the House of Commons that Britain's 7,100-strong deployment in the south of the country would be reduced to around 5,500.
He said the next chapter of Basra's history would be written by the Iraqis.
Further withdrawals could cut the force to less than 5,000 by late summer, but British troops would remain in Iraq to support local authorities into 2008 "for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do," Blair said.
The Prime Minister said the problems facing Basra remained "formidable" but control of security had been handed to local forces in most areas of the city.
Downing Street earlier said Blair had discussed the issue with US President George Bush in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.
Blair said that the pullout of troops had been made possible by the successful conclusion of Operation Sinbad, which has seen UK and Iraqi forces going through Basra district by district removing insurgent hotspots and supporting reconstruction.
This meant that Iraqi authorities were now able to take over responsibility for security, he said.
"What all this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be, but it does mean that the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by Iraqis," the Prime Minister told the MPs in a statement.
Blair said that he had discussed his proposals with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who had given his agreement and support for the withdrawals.
UK troops remaining in Iraq would hand over all bases except for Basra Air Base and Basra Palace to local authorities and the bulk of them would withdraw to the air base over the next few months.
From there, they would offer support to the Iraqi security forces and would have responsibility for training homegrown troops, securing the Iraq/Iran border, securing supply routes and conducting operations against extremists.
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