- British soldiers will still be deployed in Iraq in a
year's time, Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said yesterday.
-
- But he said their role would alter over the coming year,
from being part of an occupying army to a stabilisation force assisting
an Iraqi administration. Britain has 11,000 troops, mainly stationed in
and around Basra in the south of the country.
-
- Interviewed for BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Mr Hoon
refused to be drawn on how many British troops would be stationed in Iraq
this time next year. He said: "I would expect to see the role of British
forces change, subtly perhaps.
-
- "I'm sure we will still be there assisting Iraqis
in providing security. But instead of in a sense being legally an occupying
power we will be there in support of a transitional government, assisting
that government on the way, we hope, towards democracy."
-
- The Defence Secretary acknowledged that the armed forces
would be stretched by the open-ended commitment. But he added: "I
do believe we can manage the present level of deployment, even allowing
for the need to replace troops on a regular basis."
-
- Mr Hoon said he was optimistic that the allies' plan
to transfer power to a transitional Iraqi government by June would proceed.
-
- He conceded that the invasion of Iraq and removal of
Saddam Hussein from power had probably encouraged an influx of terrorists
intent on destabilising the country, but insisted that the gains would
outweigh the short-term problems.
-
- "What we have demonstrated in military action against
Iraq is that we are determined to see the decisions of the international
community upheld," he said.
-
- "Countries like Iraq cannot any longer simply ignore
the decisions of the United Nations because they know that this time we
mean business."
-
- Mr Hoon said he was confident that the Iraq Survey Group
would uncover convincing evidence about Saddam's alleged efforts to rebuild
his weapons of mass destruction programmes.
-
- "Saddam Hussein had months if not years in which
to conceal the details of his programmes in a country that he controlled
absolutely," he said. "We have been trying to track down that
information in a place where certainly from time to time coalition forces
are coming under attack and moreover where certain people in Iraq obviously
have an interest in continuing to conceal their involvement in these programmes."
-
- Mr Hoon said he did not believe the war and the subsequent
Hutton inquiry into the apparent suicide of the government weapons expert
David Kelly had damaged his reputation.
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=477410
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