from our ABC …..

UK troop reduction a positive sign: US

The United States says Britain's decision to trim its forces in southern Iraq does not mean American troops will have be redeployed to fill the gap.

Overnight British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans to withdraw 1,600 troops from Iraq.

The Bush administration says it regards Britain's decision as a positive sign for the war-torn country.

The Pentagon says the British drawdown has been months in the planning and it does not expect US troops will have to be redeployed to southern Iraq to provide reinforcements.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman says the British decision was "not sudden or unexpected" and is possible because of the "successes" that have been achieved in the southern region of Iraq where the UK forces are mostly based.

US Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Dr Condoleezza Rice say the British decision is a sign that the strategy of handing control over to Iraqis is working.

But the US President's political foes insist it shows the British Government has split with George W Bush, rejecting US military strategy.

Only a month ago, the President announced he was sending an extra 21,000 troops into Iraq.