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Australia PM: Troops Won't Leave Iraq Soon CANBERRA, Australia -- Australia troops will still have a role in Iraq after foreign forces hand over security to Iraqi forces in the country's south, Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday, indicating his country's troops would not be brought home soon. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie said on Friday that Iraq has an agreement to take over security responsibilities from Japanese, Australian and British troops in southern Iraq this month. About 460 Australian troops are providing security for the Japanese contingent of 600 in Iraq's southern Muthanna province. In total, Australia has about 1,320 troops in Iraq and the Middle East. Howard said handing over security responsibility to Iraqi forces did not mean Australian troops' duties there were completed. "It doesn't put them out of a job because coalition forces are needed as a backup to the Iraqi security forces in those areas where the Iraqi security forces are taking over," Howard told the Nine Network. "It is very shortsighted to go from a situation where the principal security responsibility is being carried by the coalition force to a position where there is no involvement of the coalition forces," he added. "To jump from primary responsibility to no responsibility would be to risk a smooth transition to what we all want, and that is a position where the Iraqis can look after themselves." Defense Minister Brendan Nelson last week restated the government's position that Australian troops would stay in Iraq as long as they were needed. ---------------------------------------------------
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