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Blair: No date for UK troops to leave Iraq
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-25 21:55
British Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed on Sunday mounting calls to set a
timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, saying they would
remain until local forces could maintain security.
Escalating violence and the rising number of British deaths in Iraq, nearing
100, has fuelled criticism that Blair has no clear strategy for bringing
soldiers home after the 2003 war, which was deeply unpopular in Britain.
Last week's storming of a police station by British soldiers in the southern
city of Basra, to free two undercover soldiers detained by Iraqi police, has
also sparked concern.
"The strategy has always been we retire as the Iraqi capability builds up,"
he told BBC television in an interview at the start of his centre-left Labour
Party's annual conference.
"The timescale is -- when the job is done."
Blair, who said he had not expected such fierce disruption to Iraq's
fledgling political process from insurgents, did not explicitly deny a report in
Sunday's Observer newspaper that a pullout plan was in circulation.
He did say, however, that he was not aware of a detailed plan for withdrawal
to start next May, as stated by the newspaper.
"I think what people may be thinking of is what we've been working on with
the Iraqi government for some time, which is, as Iraqi forces build up, what is
then the future needs for the multinational forces' contribution?" said Blair.
"The fact is -- what we do depends on the job being done. No arbitrary date
on the job has been set," he said, adding that the U.N. mandate was to stay as
long as the Iraqi government wanted.
Blair's trust ratings slumped after the Iraq war and the issue will dog him
through this week's conference. A YouGov poll for Britain's Five News had 57
percent of respondents saying British troops should pull out of Iraq.
Britain's withdrawal also depends on Washington.
Public support for President George W. Bush's Iraq policy has eroded in the
past year as the U.S. military death toll increases towards 2,000.
Blair also insisted the invasion of Iraq was crucial for British and world
security.
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