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07/11/2005:

"Reid plays down Iraq troop withdrawal report"

The defence secretary, John Reid, today said British forces would remain in Iraq "for as long as is needed," after a leaked report detailed plans to cut the number of British troops from 8,500 to 3,000.
The document - entitled Options for Future UK Force Posture in Iraq and marked "Secret - UK eyes only", was leaked to the Mail on Sunday.

It said the US was planning to cut its troop numbers from 176,000 to 66,000 as several provinces were handed over to control by Iraqi forces.

In a statement today, Mr Reid said: "We have made it absolutely plain that we will stay in Iraq for as long as is needed.

"No decisions on the future force posture of UK forces have been taken. But we have always said that it is our intention to hand over the lead in fighting terrorists to Iraqi security forces as their capability increases. We therefore continually produce papers outlining possible options and contingencies.
Full: guardian.co.uk