Britain ends troops presence in Iraq

Britain’s troop presence in Iraq formally ends on Friday 31 July, which concludes six years of controversial military involvement in the country beginning with the US-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein administration, the AFP news reports.

The last British troops, according to the Daily Telegraph, up to 150 naval personnel have had to withdraw to Kuwait, where they had been left in the country to protect oil platform and provide training to Iraqi forces.

The mandate allowing British troops to stay in Iraq until 31 July, and a new deal has yet to pass its third reading in the Iraqi parliament, says the Daily Telegraph.

Jawwad Syed, British Embassy spokesman in Iraq, said it was a procedural delay and the forces would pull back to Kuwait until the issue was resolved.

“The guys who were doing the training are temporarily moving out to Kuwait while we talk to the Iraqi government about what we might do in the interim.

“We have general broad support for our agreement. We’re hopeful that when we have the next parliamentary session, we should achieve a ratification,” says the Daily Telegraph.

British troops in Iraq withdrawal comes a day after Britain launched an inquiry into its role in the war.

The inquiry will examine Britain's involvement in the war from summer 2001 to the end of July 2009, in the meantime, it will also quiz key decision-makers, including former prime minister Tony Blair, said the Financial Times.

Under Blair administration, Britain was a key ally of the United States when President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to topple Saddam, in the belief he was developing weapons of mass destruction, the AFP news has leant.

Britain’s decision to take part was opposed from the start by a large of population including cabinet minister Robin Cook.

Since then, unfortunately, London’s troop numbers in the campaign were the second largest, and reached its peak of presence around 46,000 in Iraq in March and April 2003.

Eventually, the US and UK-led troops not only overthrew the dictator from the country, but also executed crimes against humanity, the AFP news reports.

Until last year, Britain decided to switch its military emphasis to the struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Baghdad and London then signed a deal that all British soldiers in Iraq would withdraw completely by the end of July 2009 once they had completed their mission, which in recent months focused on Iraqi army training.