Monday, March 12, 2007
British forces hand over base in Basra to Iraqis
Security
(VOI) British forces handed over on Sunday its base at the Shatt-el-Arab hotel, in northern Basra, to the Iraqi army, the Multi-National Forces in southern Iraq said. "Iraqi army 10th Division troops have started to arrive at the Shatt-el-Arab hotel to receive the security responsibility for the base," the Multi-National Forces in southern Iraq said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The statement added, "Iraqi soldiers have taken their positions at the hotel since Sunday morning and the Iraqi flag was hoisted over the building." The transfer of responsibility to the Iraqi army will release British forces to provide military assistance, support and training missions, the statement added. Shatt-el-Arab is located 10 km north of the southern Iraqi city of Basra. It has been used as a British base since Coalition forces entered Basra in 2003.
Labels: Basra, British forces, Iraqi Army, Shatt-el-Arab hotel
