---

Iraq

Following my visit last weekend to Baghdad and Basra, I would like to update the House on the latest developments in Iraq. Let me start by paying tribute to the British servicemen and women who have served in Iraq with distinction since March 2003; in particular, I pay tribute to those who have given their lives in service of our country. I know that the whole House will join me in honouring the memory of the fallen and saluting the courage of all our military and civilian personnel. The House will also want to know that during my visit I had discussions with Prime Minister Maliki about the British hostages who have been unjustifiably held for more than one year. We want them released immediately, and I will continue to update the House on progress. As I set out in my October statement, our objective is the creation of an independent, prosperous, democratic Iraq that is free of terrorist violence, secure within its borders and a stable presence in the region—something that is firmly in Britain's interests and in the interests of the world as a whole. To achieve this, we have sought with America and other allies to support the Iraqi Government as they now take on greater responsibility for their own security and safeguarding their new democracy, challenging those—whether terrorists, insurgents or militia—who threaten their citizens and undermine the rule of law. We have also sought to foster democratic and accountable government and support national reconciliation, giving all of Iraq's communities a genuine say in the future of their country. And we have worked to help the Iraqis build their economy and give their people an economic stake in the future. In the last year, this has led us to pursue the strategy of overwatch, which is to move from a combat role to the training and mentoring of the Iraqi forces and the Iraqi police, to encourage the development of local government and to work with the Iraqis on a Basra economic development strategy. In recent months, conditions in Basra have shown a marked improvement. Incidents of indirect fire against British troops in the Basra air station have fallen from 200 a month at their peak last summer to an average of fewer than five a month since April this year. As the all-party House of Commons Defence Committee, which has visited Iraq recently, says in its report today, the security situation in Basra has been ““transformed””. As General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker confirmed to me in Baghdad at the weekend, thanks to operations by Iraqi and coalition security forces violent incidents right across Iraq are at their lowest level since 2004. Sunni groups have now joined the Iraqi and American forces in driving al-Qaeda from areas where it had been able to terrorise the population, and Iraqi troops, with British and American support, have had success against the illegal Shi'a militias, giving the Government of Iraq more control over the country. Of course, this progress—often fragile—cannot be taken for granted. Millions of Iraqis are still refugees, either inside Iraq or in other countries; and the two car bombs that were detonated at the gates of an Iraqi army recruitment centre on 15 July remind us that there are groups still determined to inflict violence. The most important development is that the improvements that we have seen have been increasingly Iraqi-led. Security responsibility for 10 of 18 provinces has now transferred to Iraqi control, including all four provinces in Britain's area of operations. Iraqi security forces are now taking the lead in maintaining security and confronting all those who perpetrate violence, including acting decisively against Shi'a militia in Basra, Sadr City and Amarah; and they have been supported by local people from across Iraqi communities—Sunni, Shi'a and Kurd. Britain has already helped to train more than 20,000 Iraqi army troops. But I want to pay credit to Prime Minister Maliki, his Government and the Iraqi security forces, who have shown bravery and leadership in tackling the terrorists and militias threatening the stability of their country. The improved security situation has provided a platform for further, essential progress on reconciliation. We have seen not only increased co-operation between Sunni communities and the Iraqi Government in areas such as Anbar and Mosul, and the return of the Tawafuq Sunni party to the Government, but the passage of key legislation that is helping to embed democracy, including the accountability and justice law, the provincial powers law, and now the 2008 budget. The next stage will be provincial elections, reinforcing the political progress made at the national level. Our message to the leaders of all Iraq's communities, and to parties right across the country, is that they must continue to make these right long-term decisions to achieve a sustainable peace. It is also important, as we move forward, that we see Iraq's neighbours playing a constructive and responsible role in Iraq's future. In particular, Syria should clamp down on the movement of foreign fighters. Iran must stop the provision of arms and training to those who attack a democratically elected Government in Iraq or the coalition forces in Iraq, and the Iraqi people. We will also continue to focus on helping the Iraqi Government to rebuild their economy and ensuring that the Iraqi people all have a stake in the future. British-led projects in southern Iraq have now helped to deliver enough electricity to supply 800,000 people and water supplies for over 1 million people, with this year another 120,000 people due to get power and 250,000 to gain access to direct supplies of water. Our funding has helped the UN and World Bank to repair and re-equip 1,000 health centres and more than 5,000 schools, and to train nearly 150,000 teachers. With British training and equipment, including upgrades to air traffic control systems, lighting and firefighting, Iraqi personnel are regularly handling more than 20 civil flights a week at Basra airport. British mentoring and support has helped Basra provincial council to gain access to $400 million in central Government funds—money that, in line with the council's increasing ability to take the lead itself, it is now able to spend further to improve infrastructure and to provide the essential public services of power, water, health and education. Last week, the Basra development commission agreed an outline economic strategy for Basra that sets out plans to encourage private sector and foreign investment. Britain is supporting the new Basra investment promotion agency, which I visited at the weekend, and supporting the Basra development fund to provide loans to small and start-up businesses, which will be key drivers of economic growth and job creation. I am grateful for the work of Mr. Michael Wareing, a leading British businessman, who co-chairs the Basra development commission. Nine months ago, I set out the key elements of our strategy for handing over security in Basra to the Iraqis and set out the stages for completing the tasks that we have set ourselves. We completed the initial phase on target, handing over Basra to provincial Iraqi control in December. This allowed us to reduce troop numbers in southern Iraq from 5,500 in September to 4,500. After the Iraqi Government launched Operation Charge of the Knights to enforce the rule of law in Basra against the militias, as my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary explained to the House in April, the military advice was that we should pause the further planned reduction so that British troops, together with US forces, could support the Iraqis in this crucial operation. Since then, we have responded to changing needs and embedded more than 800 UK personnel within the Iraqi command structure—at divisional, brigade and battalion level. The focus of the 4,100 forces still in southern Iraq is now on completing the task of training and mentoring the 14th division of the Iraqi army in Basra, and it is right that, as we do so, we continue for the next few months to provide support at those levels. Other remaining military tasks—agreed with the Government of Iraq and in close consultation with our US allies—include finalising the preparation of Basra airport for civilian control, and continuing to develop the capacity of the Iraqi navy and marines so that they can protect oil platforms, territorial waters and the port, which are all critical to Iraq's economic future. It is now right to complete the tasks we have set ourselves. We expect the Basra development commission to publish its detailed economic development plan in the autumn. We hope that local government elections will take place by the end of 2008. Subject to security conditions on the ground, our military commanders believe that the Iraqis will be able to take over development of Basra airport by the end of this year. They also expect the first stage of the general training and mentoring of the combat troops of the 14th division in Basra to be complete around the turn of the year. As the focus shifts from training combat troops, we will move forward to the specific task of mentoring headquarters and specialist staffs, and our military commanders expect the 14th division in Basra to be fully trained during the first months of next year. As we complete these tasks, and as progress continues in these different areas, we will continue to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq. Of course, future decisions will, as always, be based on the advice of our military commanders on the ground, but I can tell the House today that, just as last year we moved from combat to overwatch, we expect a further fundamental change of mission in the first months of 2009, as we make the transition to a long-term bilateral relationship with Iraq, similar to the normal relationships that our military forces have with other important countries in the region. The Defence Secretary and our military commanders will now work with the Iraqi Government to formulate agreement on the details of such a partnership, including its necessary legal basis, and he will report to the House in the autumn. I believe it is right that having successfully trained and mentored large numbers of the Iraqi forces, and having successfully worked with the Iraqis on a new economic development strategy, we should complete the key tasks that we have agreed with the Iraqi Government: training the 14th division of the Iraqi army in Basra; preparing Basra airport for transfer to Iraqi control; pushing forward economic development; providing the necessary support for provincial elections; honouring our obligations to the Iraqi people; and at the same time—and at all times—ensuring the safety of our armed forces, whose professionalism and dedication have brought us to this stage and whose service to our country I once again commend to the House.