9.6 |
27 June 2007 to April 2008
than 15
percent of the strength of the ISF had been deployed to Basra.
Mosul, and the
campaign to
defeat AQ-I, remained the main focus for MNF-I
attention.
931.
On the
afternoon of 1 April, Mr Browne made a statement to Parliament
about
the
security situation in Basra.458
He told MPs
that UK forces continued to have a role
supporting
ISF but:
“As the
Iraqi Government have made clear, the main problems in Basra
are
criminality
and militia elements that act outside the law … While UK and
coalition
forces have
done much to deliver broad levels of security, over the longer term
only
the Iraqis
can tackle successfully criminal activity and political violence,
which are
often
linked to social and economic factors. The events of the last week
should be
seen in
that context.”
932.
Mr Browne
went on to describe the sequence of events leading to the Charge
of
the
Knights:
“When I
visited Iraq three weeks ago, I was briefed in detail about the
Iraqi plan
for
improving security in Basra by General Mohan … General Mohan then
visited
Baghdad the
following week to present the same plan to the Government of Iraq
for
endorsement.
Prime Minister Maliki formally announced his intention to
accelerate
the
implementation of the plan at a meeting on Sunday 23 March, where
both the
US and the
UK were represented at a very senior level.
“Let me be
clear: what we have seen over the last week is action being taken
by the
Government
of Iraq to fulfil their responsibilities for security in a province
that has
transferred
to Iraqi control …”
933.
Mr Browne
continued:
“It is too
early to give a definitive or detailed assessment of how the
operation has
gone
overall … The situation remains fluid, although levels of fighting
in Basra have
reduced
since the weekend …
“We and our
coalition partners are providing support to the Iraqis in line
with
our
commitments under overwatch and in accordance with our usual rules
of
engagement.
Requests for support are being made through the coalition, and I
can
confirm
that UK forces have continued to meet all their obligations as part
of the
multi-national
corps.”
934.
On UK force
levels, Mr Browne told Parliament:
“In
October, we announced our plan for drawing down UK troops from
southern
Iraq, from
5,000 at the time of the announcement to around 2,500 by the
spring,
dependent
on conditions on the ground and military advice. At the end of the
year,
458
House of
Commons, Official
Report, 1 April
2008, columns 628-629.
355