(M&C) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced the withdrawal of British combat forces from Basra during a surprise visit to inspect British troops.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown meets with troops at Camp Bastion on December 10, 2007 in Afghanistan. Brown arrived in Afghanistan as part of an unannounced visit to troops, two days after a soldier with the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment was killed in an assault on a Taleban stronghold. EPA/Peter Macdiarmid/POOL
Mr Brown said responsibility for keeping order in the southern Iraqi city will now pass to Iraqi security forces after he cleared the withdrawal in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Once combat forces are withdrawn, the remaining 4,500 troops will focus on training local forces before the number of soldiers are reduced further to 2,500 from the spring.
Speaking at the Basra air station, Mr Brown also called for the release of five British hostages held in Iraq describing their detention as "unjustified."
"We will do everything in our power to secure our objective, which is the immediate release of the hostages," he said.
"The taking of hostages is completely unjustified, wholly unacceptable and we are making it clear they will not change our policy in any way."
Four security guards and one computer expert were kidnapped in Baghdad in May. Their captors recently released a video message saying all five would be killed if British forces were not withdrawn from the country.
Update: Mr Brown has continued his overseas visit by thanking British troops at Camp Bastion, the UK's largest military base in Afghanistan.
The prime minister said he was appreciative of the soldiers' efforts describing their job as "one of the most difficult".
"This is one of the most challenging of environments, it's one of the most difficult of tasks, it's the most testing of times and it's the most important of missions because to win here and to defeat the Taleban and to make sure that we can give strength to the new democracy of Afghanistan is important for defeating terrorism all round the world," he said.
Mr Brown continued: "When I speak of courage, I speak of men and women here who have shown huge bravery in really difficult circumstances.
"I know this weekend in Musa Qala some of you here have been doing a very important job in clearing the Taleban from that area."
Mr Brown then travelled to Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
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