Blair to announce U.K.'s Iraq withdrawal timetable

The BBC reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to announce tomorrow plans for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq.

Published February 21, 2007 12:05AM (EST)

According to the BBC, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will appear before the House of Commons tomorrow to discuss a schedule for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom's troops from Iraq.

At the moment, the BBC says, the plan is to take 1,500 soldiers out of the southern city of Basra, Iraq's second largest, in the next few weeks. That represents some 20 percent of all U.K. forces currently in Iraq. The schedule for when the rest will return is unclear, though a BBC correspondent suggests that it will not be before the end of 2008, at the earliest.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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