British troops have to remain on standby incase Iraqi security forces need help, and have key duties training Iraqi security forces and patrolling the border with Iran.

Gordon Brown said that 13,000 Iraqi soldiers and 15,000 police in southern Iraq had now been trained, but more instruction will be required.

The current Iraqi Army units in the south are the 10th Division and 14th Division. The 10th is now fully trained and operational, but the 14th, based in Basra province, will need British mentoring for some time.

One option was to move British troops to a base in Kuwait, but a Ministry of Defence source said: “If the Iraqis wanted our help we wouldn’t be able to react quickly enough from Kuwait.”

British troops are also helping the Iraqi border enforcement troops to monitor the frontier with Iran, a key role because of the infiltration of Iranian extremists and roadside bomb equipment across the border in neighbouring Maysan province.

British forces also provide logistical security. The airbase outside Basra, where British troops are now located, needs constant guarding to protect it against mortar and rocket attacks.

Troops also have to guard British supply convoys.

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