March 02, 2007	Friday	Safar 12, 1428

LONDON, March 1: Britain is to withdraw almost all of its 600 troops from Bosnia-Hercegovina, a minister said on Thursday amid claims London is being forced to “scratch around” for extra manpower to send to Afghanistan.

Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram made the announcement to the House of Commons after the European Union said on Wednesday it was cutting peacekeepers from 6,500 to around 2,500 as security improves in the Balkan nation.

“It is clear that Bosnia-Hercegovina is becoming increasingly safe,” Ingram told lawmakers, noting that 55 Britons had died while serving in the country since war broke out there in the early 1990s.

Britain's Welsh Guards, currently deployed there, will not be replaced with any further troops -- although a small number of staff officers will remain at the EU force headquarters in Sarajevo, he said.

“The EU decision is in accordance with clear military advice that the security situation is stable and that the local authorities are able to cope with all but the most serious incidents,” said Ingram.

“The Welsh Guards will therefore not need to be replaced with any further troops,” he added.

Britain's government has been busily shuffling its armed forces deployments in recent days.

On Monday, Defence Secretary Des Browne said that 1,400 extra troops would be sent to Afghanistan to bolster the Nato force, taking to 7,700 the number of British soldiers there.

And last Wednesday, Prime Minister Tony Blair said last week that 1,600 British personnel were being pulled out of southern Iraq.

“It's clear that, as overstretch hits hard, the government is having to scratch around to find anywhere from which it can withdraw troops to then send to Afghanistan,” Liam Fox, the Conservative defence spokesman, said.

“Our armed forces are carrying a heavy and disproportionate burden in Helmand. As our deployment increases, more and more of our servicemen and women are feeling the pressure.” But Ingram hit back at his comments, saying there had been “marked progress” in Bosnia-Hercegovina and that the government had been hoping to reach this point for three years.

Fox previously linked the Iraq pullout to the need to boost troop numbers in Afghanistan -- where Nato forces are coming under increased pressure from a Taliban revival -- saying that the two announcements showed that the army was “so over-stretched we can't carry two conflicts”.

Nato countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have faced criticism for not contributing enough to the campaign, and last week Browne called for more nations to commit extra resources to the Afghan mission.

“Nato must respond to this request, or we will put at risk everything we have achieved across Afghanistan in the last five years: the stability which has brought five million refugees home, the advances in democracy, the economy, human rights and women's rights, “ Browne said.

Britain, which has had a presence in Bosnia for 15 years since the civil war, has troops involved in peacekeeping and reconstruction.—AFP