US to replace British forces in southern Iraq

Basra, Iraq: American troops will move into southern Iraq early next year to replace departing British forces, the top US general in Iraq said.

His comments came as Iraq's major parliamentary parties reached a compromise Sunday to allow approval of a resolution allowing all foreign troops other than Americans to remain in Iraq until July 2009.

Britain has said its 4,000 troops will withdraw from the southern port city of Basra by the end of May.

US presence

Army General Ray Odierno, the overall commander of US and allied forces in Iraq, said in an interview with The Associated Press late on Saturday that he is considering moving either a brigade or division headquarters - about 100 personnel - as well as an undetermined number of combat troops to Iraq's second-largest city.

Moving a headquarters unit to Basra would essentially give the US complete responsibility there and across the rest of the country for providing training and support to all Iraqi security forces.

"It will be a smaller presence than what is here now. We think it's important to maintain some presence down here just because we think Basra is an important city, and we think it's important to have some oversight here," Odierno told The AP in Basra, where the general was briefed by British Major General Andy Salmon about the area's stability and preparations being made to withdraw.

Odierno said Multi-National Division - Center, which is responsible for the area south of Baghdad will expand south to the Gulf and the Kuwait border. Basra is at the heart of the country's vital oil industry.

Britain will withdraw its 4,000 troops by the end of May. After the December 31 expiration of the UN mandate authorising military operations in Iraq, the only coalition troops to remain will be the US, Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania.

Abbas aAl -Bayati of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance said that Parliament will vote on Monday after "the decision to approve draft resolution was reached with heads of political blocs." He told AP that it would "give the government the authority to decide keeping some troops for training purposes."

The compromise comes after Iraq's parliament twice rejected the resolution. If it is not passed before a UN mandate expires on December 31, those troops would have no legal ground to remain.

According to Ali Al Adeeb, a member of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's inner circle, said the political blocs agreed to pass the resolution.

A separate agreement approved by the Iraqi government on December 4 allows the United States to keep troops in the country until the end of 2011. That agreement, which takes effect on January 1, gives Iraq strict oversight over the nearly 150,000 American troops now in the country.

Odierno has said that even after that summer deadline, some US training teams will remain in Iraqi cities.

He also said no decision has been made to withdraw the nearly 22,000 Marines in Iraq, mostly in Anbar province, where insurgent violence is relatively low, despite comments from the Marine commandant that there was a greater role for his troops in Afghanistan.