Britain plans Iraq pull out

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett this afternoon surprised MPs by signalling the countdown to a withdrawal from Iraq.She told the Commons that Basra, where the bulk of the UK's 7,200 personnel are stationed, could be handed over from British military control to Iraqi forces as early as next spring. ... Political control in the city was handed over to the Iraqi authorities in June last year but it has continued to suffer spiralling violence. New figures show the Iraqi death toll hit a record monthly high in October, with more than 3,700 people deaths.- slhisotindon