§ Mr. Charles WardleTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the progress of the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf.
§ Mr. Tom KingWe do not intend to retain a permanent ground force capability in the area. The withdrawal of our forces is well under way, and by the end of this week some 28,000 out of 45,000 will have returned to the United Kingdom and Germany. We expect the main withdrawals to be completed by mid-April. Up to 5,000 personnel are being deployed to Saudi Arabia to manage the return of equipment and stores to the United Kingdom and Germany. This is likely to take a number of months to complete. The remaining elements of 4 Brigade are operating as a battlegroup. While their equipment is in the Gulf and we review progress towards a formal ceasefire, we shall deploy some 1,500 personnel to replace those in this battlegroup and take advantage of training opportunities. My expectation is that the battle group will not remain beyond June.
A squadron of GR1 Tornados will also remain in Bahrain for the time being. The Armilla patrol will continue to provide a frigate/destroyer presence in the region; and a number of mine counter-measures vessels will also remain, to contribute to multinational mine clearance operations, for about six months.