UK troops complete Basra pullback

The British military has pulled out of its last base in southern Iraq's Basra city, ahead of the planned transfer of all security responsibilities for the province to Iraqi security forces by the autumn.

British troops handed over their base at a former palace to the Iraqis on Monday and withdrew to an air base on the outskirts of the city.

"All British forces moved early this morning from the Basra palace base to the airport, as part of the process to hand over the palaces to Iraqi control," the British military said in a statement.

"There were no clashes or attacks on British forces during the operation."

The departure of the 500-member British force from the palace left the nation's second-largest city without any foreign force presence for the first time since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Iraqi flag

Iraqi soldiers hoisted their flag above the base after the British withdrawal was completed before dawn.

"They were facing catastrophe and withdrew because of the attacks by the Mahdi Army"

Abu Safaa,
Mahdi Army fighter The apparently smooth transition to Iraqi control contrasted with the handover of bases in Muthanna and Maysan provinces last year, which were ransacked hours after British troops left.

Members of the al-Mahdi Army cheered the withdrawal as a victory for the militia and a defeat for Britain.

"They were facing catastrophe and withdrew because of the attacks by the Mahdi Army," Abu Safaa, one of the group's fighters, told Reuters news agency.

The palace complex has been under daily mortar and rocket fire from suspected Shia militias.

Lieutenant-General Mohan al-Fireji, the Iraqi commander in the area, said on Monday: "We told those [militias] who were fighting the British troops that the Iraqi forces are now in the palaces."

'Pre-planned move'

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, rejected suggestions that the troops were retreating under fire.

"This is a pre-planned and ..

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