§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Following the expiry of the Dutch mandate in Iraq and the planned withdrawal of its force of 1,400 personnel from Al Muthanna province in Iraq in March, the United Kingdom has, in its role as framework nation, reviewed with allies how security should continue to be provided in this part of Multinational Division (South East) (MND(SE)).
We have greatly appreciated the valuable contribution made by the Dutch battle group in Iraq. Dutch forces have made good progress in Al Muthanna, both in ensuring the stability of the province and building the capability of the Iraqi security forces (ISF). This means that a significantly smaller force package is now able to perform these tasks and the general officer commanding (GOC) MND(SE) has concluded that a force of some 600 personnel will be adequate to support and mentor Iraqi security forces in providing general security in Al Muthanna, as well as providing protection for the Japanese reconstruction battalion located there.
The majority of the personnel required will come from UK units already deployed in Iraq, principally the Queen's Dragoon Guards and the 2nd battalion, the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. A small number of additional personnel will also need to be deployed to provide logistics and other essential support to the force in Al Muthanna. This will temporarily increase the total number of UK personnel in Iraq by approximately 220, although this will subsequently fall to approximately 58WS 150, once the initial deployment to Al Muthanna is completed. Overall, however, the number of UK personnel deployed in Iraq is planned to fall by the end of February as the withdrawal of the Extremely High Readiness Reserve takes place following the Iraqi elections.
In the meantime, we continue to consult with allies on the best way to meet security tasks in the province.