British Troops In Iraq Pack Their Bags

British Troops In Iraq Pack Their Bags

(NSI News Source Info) Basra, Iraq - March 31, 2009: British armed forces move toward a complete withdrawal from Iraq, marking an end to their six-year presence in the war-hit country.

Major-General Andy Salmon, Britain's senior commander in Iraq, is slated to surrender the army's main base to the US command on May 31, the official end-of-combat date. A British military band performs during a ceremony of the departure of the British forces in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, March 29, 2009. Iraqi officials on Sunday said goodbye to British troops six years after they invaded, the farewell feast marking the beginning of the end of an unpopular and controversial British presence in Basra.

Salmon, who is slated to return to the UK with most of Britain's 4000 troops, said Tuesday that the British military has scored major achievements in Iraq and will leave the country with their "heads held high".

Involvement in the US-led military campaign in Iraq has come at a price for Britain; more than 180 British troops have lost their lives.

British army personnel have reportedly been anxiously awaiting their departure from Iraq. "Hopefully when the last British soldier leaves Iraq, it will stay peaceful because no one really wants to come back," says Corporal Nathanael Wrigglesworth.

More than 1,320,000 Iraqis have been killed, according to justforeignpolicy.org Following Washington's invasion of Iraq in 2003, the British-led coalition took control of Basra -- Iraq's third-largest city and a strategic oil hub.

Britain's pullout comes 50 years after its previous exit from Iraq, when it left the Habbaniyah base near Fallujah and ended a 41-year presence.