Troops issue tops UK-Iraqi talks

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent

Mr Talabani was given a red-carpet reception in London

One week ahead of a crucial referendum in Iraq on a new constitution, with violence continuing on a daily basis, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani - not surprisingly - received a warm welcome from British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The focus was very much on democracy-building and the continuing need for a British military presence.

An upsurge of British casualties in southern Iraq has prompted a growing debate in London about how long UK forces should remain on the ground.

So interestingly both Mr Blair and Mr Talabani were directing their message as much at British public opinion as to a wider audience.

'Helping people'

British troops were in southern Iraq, said Mr Blair, not for strategic reasons but to help the Iraqi people; and they would stay only as long as they were needed.

Recent images from southern Iraq have shocked the British public

This view was echoed by Mr Talabani, who warmly praised British forces and thanked the families of servicemen and women in Iraq.

He said that he too wanted to see an end to the British troop presence, but that it was not possible to say when a pullout might come.

Of course, one critical factor in the rise in British casualties has been the use of a new kind of roadside bomb.

This has a shaped charge which is designed to penetrate even armoured vehicles.

In terms of the weaponry available to the insurgency it is a significant technological leap - proof lies in the increasing British death toll.

The Americans have been warning about such weapons moving from Iran into Iraq for some months now.

'Iranian elements'

Indeed, they claim to have seized some of the shipments.

But given the fluidity of British public opinion towards the troop presence in Iraq, this new explosive technology is causing some political headaches in London.

That's why a senior British official raised the issue "off the record" on Wednesday, leaving Mr Blair to follow it up a day later.

Mr Blair said that the particular nature of the devices led either to "Iranian elements" or to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a group which is funded and supported by Iran.

And he issued a blunt warning to Tehran that it should neither interfere in Iraq nor think it could intimidate Britain into backing away from its demands that Iran should honour its nuclear obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In one sense Mr Blair's reference to "Iranian elements" is more nuanced than the unnamed official's initial remarks.

But nobody should be in any doubt that Britain holds the Iranian government responsible for activities on its territory.

Iraqi 'milestone'

This row over alleged Iranian support for Iraqi insurgents comes at a critical time.

President Talabani described the constitutional referendum as a milestone in Iraq's history.

And if the constitution is endorsed it does at least offer the possibility of a more permanent government in Baghdad.

However, many of the most difficult questions about Iraq's future are still to be answered.