British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,600 due to return home in the next few months.
"The actual reduction in forces will be from the present 7,100 - itself down from over 9,000 two years ago and 40,000 at the time of the conflict - to roughly 5,500," Mr Blair told the House of Commons. "The UK military presence will continue into 2008, for as long as we are wanted and have a job to do," he said.
Mr Blair also told the House during his regular weekly appearance that a total of about 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007, provided the security situation is under control.
The announcement comes as US President George Bush implements an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq, but while some of the other coalition partners are pulling out: The Italians and Slovaks have left, and the Danes and the South Koreans want to start withdrawing.
Militarily, a British withdrawal will have little effect on the stepped-up US operation in Baghdad or the war with the Sunnis in Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital. However, Iraqi forces could have a tough time maintaining security in mostly Shia southern Iraq, including Basra city.
Currently, according to the Brookings Institution, besides Britain, the major partners in the coalition include South Korea (2,300 troops), Poland (900), Georgia (800), Romania (600) and Denmark (460).