Symbolic Brit Handover of Basra to Iraqis

London, Dec 16 (Prensa Latina) The British transfer of control of Basra
province to Baghdad authorities took place amidst deaths of thousands
of Iraqi civilians and 174 British, the newspaper The Observer re****ted.

The formal transfer of functions took place after four years, nine months
and 11 days of British military occupation and billions of dollars in
expenses, added the daily.

It is the continuation of a process begun last September, when the British
soldiers abandoned their positions at Basra palace and will continue
downsizing the London forces from 4700 to 2500 soldiers, next spring.

For the Observer, since the entrance of British soldiers in Basra in
April 2003, the city and the province that carries this name have
experienced a slow, bloody and marked decline.

No one can deny that Basra is full of violence, concludes the newspaper.

ef abo vc PL-14

                                ***

Channel 4 News - Snowmail (UK) - Dec 16, 2007
http://www.channel4.com

Symbolic Brit Handover of Basra to Iraqis 

We lead with the symbolic handover of security control from British
troops to the Iraqi authorities in Basra. When the US and Britain
invaded Iraq four-and-a-half years ago, few predicted how arduous their
task would be. Nick Paton Walsh re****ts from the  British  Basra
Airbase. And I'll be speaking to Labour MP Anne Clywd, a sup****ter of
the invasion, and the former LibDem Leader Charles Kennedy -- an
opponent of the British operation, about what has really been achieved,
the power of the militia, and the plight of  the  ordinary  people of
Basra -- especially women, who are increasingly being attacked by the
Iranian backed ****a hardliners. 

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