British troops quit Basra city on Monday, while US President George Bush visited Iraq on the same day. He told troops at Al-Asad Air Base that Iraqi troop levels would be determined by a military assessment, not politicians in Washington.
In the mean time, a British Ministry of Defence statement said that the withdrawal of British forces from Basra Palace is a step towards handing over the province to Iraqi control and an eventual British pullout from Iraq. British forces would continue to train and support Iraqi security forces, it said.
