Senior British officer in Iraq gives security update

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The senior British military officer in Iraq has been giving an operational update on the latest security situation in the country.

Lieutenant General Sir Rob Fry Royal Marines, Deputy Commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq and the Senior British representative in theatre.
[Picture: Royal Navy]

Lieutenant General Sir Rob Fry Royal Marines, Deputy Commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq and the Senior British representative in theatre, gave the update, which focused on security operations in Iraq, for the world’s media assembled at the US Department of Defense briefing room in Arlington, Virginia, USA by video teleconference on 22 August 2006.

Based in Baghdad, Lt Gen Fry assumed command in March of this year. During his briefing he described some of the most recent developments, including the improved security situation in Baghdad, in particular, during the last few weeks.

Commenting on the increased military presence in Baghdad in recent weeks Lt Gen Fry said:

"I think that what we've seen in Baghdad over the last four or five weeks has been an extremely well conceived operation that tries to combine military effect with political engagement and then, on top of that, the restoration of the public utilities and services that people depend upon. And I think that's being done in a highly systematic and a highly effective way.

"The numbers of sectarian killings which have taken place in Baghdad over the last few weeks are dramatically reduced, and the reason for that is that a highly effective security operation is taking place on the streets of Baghdad."

Lt Gen Fry was also positive about developments in Basra:

"I think that Basra, as time goes on, will try and adapt those techniques for the same purposes. As far as Basra itself is concerned, I think we've had an intervention of central government into local government. And I'm sure you're aware that Prime Minister Maliki intervened in terms of the local security architecture, to make sure that a committee answerable directly to him would be put in place and make sure that he could have the most intimate control over what was going on in Basra.

"And it seems to me there may be a lesson there. But if I'm to draw comparisons overall, it seems to me that Basra has more to learn from Baghdad than the other way round."

See Here for the full transcript of the briefing, including Lt Gen Fry's opening statement and the question and answer session that followed.

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