Britain has no plans to increase Iraq troops: Blair

22 Apr, 2004

Britain has no plans to increase the number of its troops in Iraq, Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday, after suicide bombers killed at least 68 people in the British-patrolled southern city of Basra.
"We are satisfied that we have sufficient troops in Basra," Blair told parliament. "We don't have plans to increase the number."
There are about 7,500 British troops in Iraq according to the Ministry of Defence.
"Of course, we always have to keep that situation under review but at the present time the British troops are managing actually extremely well down there," he added.
Britain has the largest number of troops in Iraq, after the United States.
Washington and London are working to keep other allies on board in Iraq following decisions by Spain, Honduras and the Dominican Republic to pull their troops out of the country.
Blair urged the international community to join forces to ensure that the "terrorists do not succeed".
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the suicide attacks would not derail plans to hand sovereignty to the Iraqi people within a planned timetable.
"My message to the terrorists is clear - we will not allow you to derail the process of transition to a sovereign and democratic Iraq," he told reporters.
"We are determined to maintain the June 30 handover of sovereignty to Iraqi people and we are not going to be deflected from that," he added.
Straw said the international coalition in Iraq remained "strong" despite Spain's decision to pull out.
Asked whether British soldiers, who patrol the Basra region, would change their tactics to deal with the growing violence in Iraq, Straw said that would be decided by commanders on the ground.
Blair's spokesman told reporters earlier that one of the police stations attacked on Wednesday had been visited by the prime minister during a morale-raising trip to southern Iraq in January.

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