British officials want troop withdrawal from Iraq

British Leader of Liberal Democratic Party, Charles Kennedy, said Wednesday that the latest events in the Iraqi city of Basra and clashes between British troops and Iraqi police stress the necessity of putting a strategy for the troops' pull out of Iraq.

"I repeatedly urged Premier Tony Blair not to send British troops without a clear withdrawal strategy that should be discussed in front of the parliament publicly," Kennedy added in a statement.

Former British International Development Secretary Claire Short, for her part, said that officials should now discuss putting an end to occupation which constitutes a big problem, as well putting a timetable for the pull out.