Britain ending operations in Iraq

British operations in Iraq are set to finally end today when the Royal Navy completes its mission to train the Iraqi sailors. The move marks the completion of Operation (Telic), the UK military campaign that began in 2003 with the invasion designed to topple Saddam Hussein. Most British forces pulled out of the country in 2009, having been mainly based in the southern city of Basra. But the Royal Navy continued to train Iraqi soldiers to defend their territorial waters and offshore infrastructure. When their mission, at Iraq's main naval base in Umm Qasr, ends on Sunday there will only be a handful of staff remaining at the British embassy in Baghdad. A total of 1,800 Iraqis have been trained on 50 different courses, including small arms and oil platform maintenance, the Ministry of Defence said. The UK will now continue to support the Nato's officer training programme, while some Iraqi soldiers will attend the army's training college at Sandhurst. British Defence Secretary Liam Fox paid tribute to the 179 British personnel have lost their lives in the past eight years in Iraq. He added: "Royal Navy personnel have used their formidable skills and expertise to bring about a transformation in Iraq's naval force. The Iraqi Navy has a key role to play in protecting Iraq's territorial waters and the oil infrastructure that is so vital to Iraq's economy, and I am proud of the role British forces have played in making it capable of doing that job."