21/07/2010

PM Seeks 2011 Afghanistan Withdrawal

As more bodies were this week being repatriated to the UK from the killing grounds of Afghinistan, the withdrawal of British troops from the war-torn zone was being discussed as being possible from as early as next year.

PM David Cameron and US president Barack Obama has talked about beginning the pullout of American soldiers from July 2011.

The Prime Minister told the BBC today that the same could be expected of UK forces "based on conditions on the ground".

Mr Cameron was speaking in Washington, where he discussed the Afghan war with President Obama.

A major conference in Afghanistan on Tuesday also backed a plan that would see Afghan forces lead security operations across the country completely by 2014.

Today, the PM will be fully briefed on Afghanistan operations at the Pentagon before travelling to New York for talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on foreign policy issues and preparations for the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals in September.

He will also be meeting senior figures from the US business community to discuss the prospects for increased trade and investment with the UK before attending a dinner hosted by the Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister also met four US senators to discuss allegations surrounding the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.

While in Washington, Mr Cameron was also holding in-depth meetings with Vice-President Biden and senior members of Congress to discuss common issues including foreign policy, trade, the economy and the BP oil spill.

Meanwhile, in the war zone, among the latest to die was Staff Sergeant Brett George Linley, of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment, The Royal Logistic Corps, who was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday 17 July 2010.

Staff Sergeant Linley, serving with the Counter-IED Task Force in support of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (South), was killed in an explosion during a counter-IED operation in the Nahr-e Saraj District of Helmand province.

See: Afganistan Victims' Bodies Flown Home

(BMcC/GK)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

21 June 2010
Afghanistan Casualties Reach 300
The Prime Minister has paid tribute to the forces as news of the 300th death in the Afghanistan conflict is announced. The number of UK service personnel killed as a result of the Afghanistan conflict since 2001 has hit 300, after a wounded marine died in hospital.
21 March 2008
Cardinal O'Brien Condemns "Monstrous" Embryo Research
A leading Roman Catholic churchman, Cardinal Keith O'Brien has launched an attack on Prime Minister Gordon Brown over plans to allow hybrid human-animal embryos. The leader of the Catholic Church in Britain will use his Easter Sermon to attack controversial proposals to permit scientists to create the hybrid embryos for research.
07 September 2006
Commander calls for more Nato troops for Afghanistan
Nato's top commander has urged member nations to provide more troops in Afghanistan to support the current battle against Taliban militants. General James Jones said that the military alliance had been surprised by the "level of intensity" of attacks in southern Afghanistan since Nato troops moved into the region in July.
04 October 2006
'NHS safe in Conservative hands' - Cameron
David Cameron has pledged that the NHS will be "safe in Conservative hands," if the party gets back into power at the next election. Speaking at the end of the party's conference in Bournemouth, Mr Cameron said that he intended to make the NHS "a key priority" and vowed never to cut its funding, while ensuring that the money was "better spent".
23 June 2011
UK Welcomes US Troop Reduction In Afghanistan
The British Prime Minister and Chief of the Defence Staff have both welcomed the announcement that the US will be withdrawing 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. US President Barack Obama announced last night that 10,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year and another 23,000 by the end of September 2012.