(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-02 19:32

"We expect them and the Iraqi government to agree to the transfer of the province this autumn. We would like to think probably the end of November," he said.

Britain has already transferred control of three southern provinces back to the Iraqis -- Maysan, Al-Muthanna and Dhiqar -- and Basra is the final part of their mission.

Brown previously held talks with Maliki and President Jalal Talabani on a fact-finding trip on June 11 when he was still finance minister. Before that, he met British troops in Basra in November 2006.

Political observers believe announcements on cutting troop levels could herald Brown calling an early general election and that he could turn what was a political and electoral millstone for Blair into an advantage at the ballot box.

Amid continued calls for a pullout and 170 British military fatalities since 2003, Iraq has so far failed to impact on Brown's popularity ratings in the opinion polls, despite his vote in favour of the 2003 invasion.

In policy terms, Brown has so far shown little divergence from Blair on Iraq, although he has accepted the issue had been politically "divisive" and that "mistakes" were made in post-war planning and reconstruction.

On his last visit, Brown said there would be an increased emphasis on the political and economic efforts to help Iraq under his leadership.

And in a move that was welcomed by Iraq war critics, he appointed a number of opponents of the invasion to his cabinet inner circle, including the former UN deputy secretary general Mark Malloch Brown as a junior foreign minister.

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