UK plans pull out of its troops from Iraq early next year

British troops in Iraq might be withdrawn as early as next year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated, while hailing the improved security situation in the war-torn country.
Brown who was on a day's visit to Iraq yesterday said Iraqi forces would soon take over the Basra airport, the main British military headquarters.

He outlined a road map for training and strengthening of Iraqi security forces that might ultimately aid withdrawal of UK troops before the scheduled general election in 2010.

Brown told British soldiers that they were on the final leg of duties in Iraq. Last October, he had stated that the troops in Iraq would be cut to 2,500 by spring, but there were still 4,100 troops holed up at the Basra airport.

According to a report in The Observer, Brown, however, made it clear that he would not "set any artificial timetable." His statement comes a day after White House announced that the US and the Iraqi authorities had agreed a "general time horizon" for the "further reduction of US combat forces in Iraq."