UK: British troop drawdown nearly complete

Above: A British soldier patrols Basra in a tank in February. Britain has been the primary coaltiion force in southern Iraq.

The reduction of British forces in southern Iraq to about 5,500 soldiers is almost complete, a British military spokesman said on Tuesday.

Major David Gell said the reduction from about 7,000, as announced by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in February, would be achieved by the rotation of a smaller brigade into Iraq and not by pulling out any troops.

One Mechanised Brigade took command on June 1 from 19 Light Brigade and the handover process should be completed in days, Gell said.

"This is the period when the reduction of troops will take place. We will be down to that number (about 5,500) in a short space of time ... within days," he said.

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