Iraq drawdown could create dangers, British lawmakers warn

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A halving of British troop numbers in southeastern Iraq could make it impossible to retain control of the region, a British parliamentary committee warned Monday.

The British force concentrated around the southern Iraqi city of Basra is set to be reduced to 2,500 by next spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced recently.

The drop in troop figures will go ahead even though the goal of establishing security in the region remained "unfulfilled," according to the report by the House of Commons Defense Select Committee published Monday. The select committee composition reflects the number of MPs in each party.

Although significant progress has been achieved in training and equipping a new division of the Iraqi army to take over eventually from the British in the region, the Iraqi police force in Basra remains plagued by "murderous, corrupt and militia-infiltrated elements," the report said.

The report noted a reduction of attacks on British forces since they pulled out of their last base in the city but pointed out no corresponding decline had occurred in the number of attacks against civilians.

The report also warned it was important not to overstate the success of this year's U.S. troop escalation -- the so-called surge -- in the Baghdad region. It is unclear whether the recent improvements in the security situation would be sustained in the long term, it said.

Britain has the second largest troop presence in Iraq after the United States, providing 5,000 troops to the southern Iraqi provinces of Basra, Thiqar, Maysan and Muthanna.

Britain plans to transfer control of all four provinces to the Iraqi security forces.

British Defense Secretary Des Browne said he remained hopeful Basra province could be handed over to the Iraqis by the end of 2007. Browne said British "obligations to the Iraqi nation" would continue even after the transfer of the four provinces.

The parliamentary committee's report said "important questions" remain about the sustainability of maintaining security with a vastly reduced force.

"If there is still a role for British forces in Iraq, those forces must be capable of doing more than just protecting themselves at Basra air base," the report said. "If the reduction in numbers means they cannot do more than this, the entire British presence in southeastern Iraq will be open to question."

Other developments

• Brig. Gen. Fawzi Mohammed, a high-ranking Iraqi Interior Ministry official, was shot and killed Monday during a drive-by shooting in a Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry official said.

• The new U.N. special representative in Iraq met Sunday with Iran's top diplomat in the country. The discussions included the possibility of increased Iranian support to Iraq's reconstruction, according to a U.N. statement. E-mail to a friend

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