Troops 'making progress in Iraq'
Updated on 20 August 2007
Military chiefs have insisted that British forces in Iraq are still making progress in the strife-torn country despite claims that they are fighting a war they cannot win.
Major Mike Shearer said the British were moving towards being able to hand over the control of Basra to Iraqi authorities.
He was speaking as radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr used a newspaper interview to claim UK troops had been defeated and were retreating from southern Iraq.
The cleric, whose Mehdi Army militia have frequently clashed with British forces, said: "The British have given up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon.
"They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt.
"The British have realised this is not a war they should be fighting or one they can win. The Mehdi Army has played an important role in that."
But Maj Shearer said the military had always expected an increase in violence as they prepared to hand over control in Basra to Iraqi security forces.
"The malign influences in the city we have always predicted would raise their game to create the false impression that they were driving us out and that is not the case," he said
"The reality is it makes sense, the closer we get to achieving Iraqi control in Basra province, that we reduce our operational footprint in the city and allow the Iraqi security forces to take the lead in policing security of their own city.
"This is not a new plan at all; it's good for the Iraqis, it's good for us and we will eventually see here Iraqi solutions for Iraqi problems and that has to be the way ahead."
Maj Shearer said he was hopeful that UK forces would be able to hand over Basra province to the Iraqis in the autumn.
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