UK defense minister sees S.Iraq security gains

By Luke Baker

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Britain is on target to hand control of Basra province to Iraqi forces within six weeks as security in southern Iraq shows steady signs of improvement, British Defence Minister Des Browne said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to British troops, Browne said a decision in September to pull forces out of central Basra had been the right thing to do, despite criticism from Washington, and had led to a decline in violence.

"Things are getting better here for a very obvious reason," Browne told Reuters. "The Iraqis themselves are much more capable of taking responsibility for their own security.

"Our move out of Basra Palace, and out of the city of Basra, was predicted by people who didn't fully understand to be prophetic of some sort of reduction in security... in fact we knew that security would improve and all the indications are that it has," he said.

"We always knew that (80-90 percent) of the violence was directed against our troops. That violence is now not there and the fact it's not there means the incidental damage it did to the Iraqi people is not there."

The security improvement in the city of two million people means that Britain, which has already handed responsibility for three southern provinces to Iraq, is ready to transfer authority for the fourth and most restive.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Monday that the handover would take place in mid-December, and Browne said he saw no reason why that should not be the case.

"Of course it's do-able," he said when asked if the deadline was achievable. "I'm very pleased about it. It's an indication of the success of our troops in monitoring, mentoring and training the Iraqi security forces."

CUTBACKS

After keeping 7,000-8,000 troops in southern Iraq for four years, Britain now has around 5,000 troops there, nearly all located at an airport on the outskirts of Basra, and has said it will reduce the number to 2,500 in the next year.

The cuts -- at a time when Washington was sending 30,000 additional troops to Iraq -- raised eyebrows in the United States, though the U.S. government says it supports its main ally's decision to cut back in the south.

Apart from a battalion on standby to intervene should Basra or nearby areas suddenly erupt into violence, British troops are involved mostly in training Iraq's army and police.

There are around 10,000 fully trained Iraqi soldiers and around 15,000 police in and around the city, British commanders say. Although the Iraqis' work is not always executed as well as the British would like, they say it has improved.

British commanders point to an incident last week in which members of the Mehdi Army, a powerful Shia militia, claimed to have overrun parts of the city. Rather than call in British support, the Iraqi army commander said he would handle the situation himself and restored order within a few hours.

Whether Iraqi forces will be able to maintain order after the handover in mid-December remains to be seen, but Browne said planning was on target and British troop cuts would continue.

"We're not speeding anything up. As we have said, we plan to reduce numbers progressively to 2,500 over the course of the next year," he said. "We are exactly on plan."