Some British forces might be withdrawn from Iraq next year, if Iraqi forces are ready to take over security responsibilities, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Monday. "I think it's entirely reasonable to talk about the possibility of withdrawal of troops next year but it's got to be always conditioned by the fact that we withdraw when the job is done," Blair said at a news conference with Iraqi Vice President Abel Abdul Mahdi. "The job is done when the Iraqi security services are capable of dealing with the security problems," Blair said. Blair and Defense Secretary John Reid appeared much more cautious than Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who said in an interview broadcast Sunday that there could be an agreement for British troops to withdraw by the end of 2006. "It is a process that could start within the next 12 months," Reid said in an interview Monday with British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We are not saying there would be immediate withdrawal. We are not saying that there is an immutable timetable, irrespective of conditions on the ground. "We are not saying that everyone will be out by the end of 2006 but we are saying that this process _ despite the terrorist attempts to destroy it _ is going relatively well, and, in the course of the next year, we could well see the handover to Iraqi forces at certain places in Iraq, including in our own area," Reid said. Britain has about 8,500 troops in southern Iraq. Talabani said British troops could be gone by the end of 2006. "In my opinion, in the next year we will be able to reach agreement with the British government to withdraw," Talabani said in an interview with ITV. "We don't want British forces forever in Iraq. Within one year _ I think at the end of 2006 _ Iraqi troops will be ready to replace British forces in the south," Talabani said.
