Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 12 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 December 2008. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 January 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel in each service he expects to remain in Iraq following the completion of Operation Archive.

Answer: As the Prime Minister set out on 18 December 2008, Official Report, columns 1233-35, we will complete our remaining military tasks in Iraq by 31 May 2009 and move to a normal bilateral defence relationship. The subsequent withdrawal of our forces will be complete by 31 July. As part of the future relationship, the Government of Iraq have indicated that they would like to continue to receive military training and education from the UK. We will shortly begin discussions to establish the precise scope of this training and education, which will inform the number and breakdown by service of any UK service personnel in Iraq after 31 July. Our current assumption is that this activity would involve around 400 UK service personnel.Operation Archive is not concerned with the overall withdrawal of UK forces by 31 July 2009. Rather, it is the name given to the periodic removal from Iraq of equipment no longer required by UK forces.

Secondary information