Downing Street Says

» Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Iraq

Asked what the timetable was after the elections to withdraw British troops from Iraq, the PMOS said as people knew already, UK troops, like all coalition troops were stationed in Iraq at the request of the interim Government. The position after the elections would be the same. What had always been made clear was that we would not stay any longer than the Iraqi Government wanted us to. Equally, for that to happen, the Iraqi Government needed to be in a position where it could defend itself against terrorism. He added that 14.3 million people were registered to vote in the upcoming elections which said something about the opportunity for the Iraqi people to not only have a say in their own affairs, but also a say in the Iraqi Government, who in turn, would be able to determine how long the troops would stay in their country.

Asked again if there was a timetable, the PMOS in return asked who had said there ever was one. He said the troops were not stationed in Iraq to meet a timetable, but rather to help Iraq decide its own future. What the interim Government had decided it wanted was to build up its capability for its own forces to allow to defend itself. That in turn would allow our troops to leave.

Asked about a report claiming 1000 extra troops would be deployed to Iraq before May, the PMOS said he did not recognise the report.

Asked how many Iraqi people in Britain had registered to vote, the PMOS said he had not received the figures yet, but hoped to have them soon.

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Iraq

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