All British troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year, Iraq's national security advisor told AFP Friday.
"By the end of next year there will be no British troops in Iraq. By the end of 2009," Muwafaq al-Rubaie said, adding that negotiations between London and Baghdad on the pull-out had begun two weeks ago.
However, a defence ministry spokesman in London said in response that Britain has "no timetable" on the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq.
Around 4,000 British troops are currently serving in Iraq, most of them in and around the southern Iraqi city of Basra.
