Tony Blair said today that British troops in Iraq could start coming home within the next six months if all went well.

The Prime Minister spoke during a five hour Christmas visit to Basra to pay tribute to the work of the 8,000 British troops stationed in the country. Mr Blair told them they could be "very, very proud" of what they were doing.

Asked at a press conference later if six months was a viable time for a withdrawal to begin, Blair said:"If everything goes to plan. It is our strategy, we want to draw down our own forces."

Mr Blair arrived in Iraq a few hours before Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, who also hinted that the US military will soon begin a modest cut in troop levels by canceling the scheduled deployment of two Army brigades.

Mr Blair said that the soldiers who briefed him today had a high regard for the new Iraqi army.

He said: "That’s a very hopeful sign because the whole point is to build up the Iraqi capability so that we can then draw down our own capability.

"There is a lot to do. The army is building a quicker capability than the police - that’s why it’s important we get a very strong unity government out of the elections so they can build a strong police capability."

The Prime Minister said it would be foolish to set an arbitrary timetable for withdrawal, when so much depended on assessments of when the job was done.

But he added: "There’s a completely different situation from the situation a year ago. Of course there will be people causing trouble all the way through this process but 10 million people came out and voted."

Mr Blair flew into Basra from Kuwait and held meetings with defence chiefs. Later he flew by helicopter to the Shaiba logistics base where he told some of the 4,000 troops stationed there that once Iraqi security forces were up to strength, they could start returning home.

Standing on a low-loader truck, wearing a dark jacket, blue shirt and no tie, Mr Blair thanked the troops for their work.

"I know it’s particularly tough being away from your families at Christmas and New Year," he said. "I just want you to know how grateful we are for the work you are doing here. However tough it is, I hope you have some sense of how important it is."

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