LONDON — LONDON -British military operations in Iraq ended Thursday, a month ahead of schedule, closing a six-year mission that cost the lives of 179 British soldiers and was unpopular in Britain.
"Today Iraq is a success story. We owe much of that to the efforts of British troops," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at his 10 Downing St. offices Thursday morning.
"Our mission has not always been an easy one, many have said that we would fail," Brown said. "Britain can be proud of our legacy that we leave there."
Brown said Britain's military mission, which began with the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, was to formally end at 12:15 p.m. British time when Britain's 20 Armored Brigade would hand over its duties to the U.S. military in the southern city of Basra.
The Iraq war has been deeply divisive in Britain and was a key reason then-Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped down in June 2007 after a decade in office. Blair's close partnership with former president George W. Bush, and his enthusiastic support of the war, had steadily eroded his popularity.
Succeeding Blair, Brown has taken a more muted approach to the war, clearly stating his support for British troops while they were in Basra but stressing the need for Britain to reduce and ultimately eliminate its combat presence there.
Thursday's hand-over came a month ahead of schedule. Most of the 4,000 remaining British troops will leave the country in the coming weeks, and about 400 Navy and Royal Marines will remain to help with training of Iraqi naval forces, officials said.
Appearing with al-Maliki on Thursday, Brown said Britain and Iraq would now begin a new phase of bilateral relations.
"Today we are taking steps to strengthen and deepen our relationship and to make it a long-term partnership of equals," Brown said.
Brown said Britain and Iraq would sign a new agreement about "the future role that we can plan in training and protecting the oil supplies of Iraq."
Part of that new relationship will be economic. Al-Maliki, in fact, is in London for a business conference designed to attract investment to his battered country.
