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| Brown arrives for Baghdad talks | Brown arrives for Baghdad talks |
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| Gordon Brown has arrived in Baghdad to hold talks with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki and military leaders. | Gordon Brown has arrived in Baghdad to hold talks with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki and military leaders. |
| The surprise visit, the UK prime minister's first since December, comes ahead of a statement next week on Britain's involvement in the country. | The surprise visit, the UK prime minister's first since December, comes ahead of a statement next week on Britain's involvement in the country. |
| Part of the focus will be on the future of the 4,000 or so British troops in southern Iraq, said the BBC's Jim Muir. | |
| Plans to halve UK troop numbers to 2,500 by spring were delayed due to violence in Basra at the end of March. | |
| Numbers had been reduced from 5,000 to 4,000 between October 2007 and April. | Numbers had been reduced from 5,000 to 4,000 between October 2007 and April. |
| Military commanders now say they expect numbers to be further reduced during the course of 2009, added our correspondent. | |
| The UN mandate covering the foreign troops in Iraq expires at the end of the year. The Americans are negotiating a new bi-lateral agreement to cover their continuing presence, and Britain will have to do the same, he said. | |
| At the peak of UK military activity in Iraq, in 2003, there were 26,000 soldiers posted in the country. | At the peak of UK military activity in Iraq, in 2003, there were 26,000 soldiers posted in the country. |
| Mr Brown is also due to meet Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during his visit. | |
| In December he thanked troops for their work as he announced the official handover of Basra to Iraqi authorities. |