FALLUJA, Iraq: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday the number of US combat troops in Iraq would be cut by some 7,000 by early next year, but the number involved in training Iraq's new military would increase.

Rumsfeld, the second senior US official to visit Iraq this week in the wake of last week's election, said progress in Iraq's politics, economics and security lay behind the decision to scale back the combat troops.

"President (George W.) Bush has authorized an adjustment in US combat brigades in Iraq from 17 to 15," Rumsfeld said, addressing several hundred US troops at a military camp east of Falluja.

"This will include increases in the number of US forces involved in transition teams, intelligence support, and logistics, to assist the Iraqi security forces in continuing to assume greater responsibility for the security of their country."

"The adjustment being announced today is a recognition of the Iraqi people's progress in assuming added responsibility for their country," Rumsfeld said, adding that the US and Iraqi governments would continue to evaluate the troop situation in the coming months.

Some troops from the two brigades affected would be transferred from combat to training Iraqis, he said.

Blair: Pullout may start before June

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a lightning trip to Iraq, also said late on Thursday that the situation was entirely different from a year ago and signalled Britain could start scaling down its troop presence in six months.

Blair, on his fourth trip to Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, said good progress was being made in training Iraqi security and police forces to protect the country.

The ability of Iraqis to manage the country's security is the key condition for the 8,000 British troops, most of them stationed in the southeast near Basra, to return home.

Asked if six months was a viable time for a withdrawal to begin, Blair said: "If everything goes to plan. It is our strategy; we want to draw down our own forces."

Source: China Daily