LONDON, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown defended Monday the withdrawal of troops from Basra city in Iraq, but the move will do little to ease mounting signs of tension between London and Washington.
Brown, who took over as premier from Tony Blair in June, stressed that British troops withdrawn to Basra airport remain on standby to deploy again if the security situation demanded.
"We are able to reintervene in certain circumstances. The purpose has been to hand the security over from the British army to the Iraqi security forces," he said, as London confirmed the pull-out of some 500 troops was complete.
"This is a pre-planned and this is an organised move," Brown told BBC radio.
"We will discharge all our responsibilities to the Iraqi people; we will discharge our international obligations exacted in the United Nations."
But analysts have pointed out a cooling of relations between London and Washington under Brown, who is seen as attempting to distance himself from his predecessor's cosy ties with US President George W. Bush.
Underlining the diverging policies, Bush made a surprise visit to Bagdhad on Monday to take stock of a "surge" in US forces in Iraq which has seen American troop levels boosted to record numbers.
The contrast between Bush going in while Brown defended a pull-out reflected the different stances, commentators said.
"We are seeing some tensions emerging from both sides," said Robert Lowe of London's Chatham House think-tank. "The governments are trying to keep things as harmonious as possible, but we are seeing some strains."
The cooling of ties was signalled as soon as Brown took office, when he included a number of critics of US policy in his cabinet, including former UN deputy chief Mark Malloch Brown.
The former finance minister's first trip to meet Bush at the end of July also saw a market contrast with Blair, with Brown failing conspicuously to praise Bush personally and keeping contacts on a markedly formal level.
Over the past weekend, two senior British generals blasted the United States' handling of post-invasion Iraq, with one describing it as "fatally flawed."
Washington's policy was "intellectually bankrupt," said another -- the retired General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the British Army during the 2003 invasion.
Brown sought to downplay the significance of the remarks. "He did not stay this to me at the time and this was not part of any discussion I've had," the prime minister said.
But he admitted: "I've acknowledged that if I were able to make these decisions now, they would have been done differently... This could have been done a lot better and should have been done a lot better."
Brown said Britain could now focus on rebuilding the economy in Basra and the wider southern Iraq, where its 5,500 troops in the country are stationed.
Britain's military is being stretched by its engagements in Iraq, where troop numbers are gradually being reduced, and Afghanistan, where they are slowly rising.
Brown, who took over from Blair on June 27, has maintained his predecessor's line of refusing to set a timetable for a British withdrawal from Iraq.
"I'll make a statement when the House of Commons returns (October 8) about what we will be able to do in future," he said Monday.
"The numbers of troops are remaining roughly the same at the moment."
09/03/2007 13:54 GMT