British troops may start leaving Afghanistan next year: Cameron

Britain could start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as early as next year, prime minister David Cameron said today.

Britain has said it wants to pull the bulk of its 9,500-strong force out of the war zone within five years, in line with an international aspiration to give Afghans full control of their security by the end of 2014.

The United States, which has committed the bulk of the foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan, hopes to start bringing soldiers home from July 2011.

Asked in an interview with BBC Radio whether Britain could match that, Cameron said: "Yes, we can, but it should be based on the conditions on the ground.

"I mean, the faster we can transition districts and provinces to Afghan control, clearly the faster that some forces can be brought home," he said during a visit to Washington.

"I don't want to raise expectations about that because that transition should be based on how well the security situation is progressing."

The new prime minister, in charge of a Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition that came to power in May, said the public should be clear that, by 2015, Britain would not have "combat troops or large numbers" in Afghanistan.

Cameron visited the Arlington military cemetery today where he laid a wreath and met 20 British veterans.

In London, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg confirmed the timetable for the withdrawal of British combat troops.

"We do not wish to see British troops in a combat role in Afghanistan by 2015," Clegg told Parliament.

"No timetable can be chiselled in stone, but we are absolutely determined, given how long we have been in Afghanistan, given that we are six months into an 18-month military strategy, embarking on a new political strategy, that we must be out in a combat role by 2015," Clegg said.

Cameron discussed Afghanistan and exit strategies with US president Barack Obama yesterday in his first visit to the White House as prime minister.

Both men are under strong domestic pressure to bring troops home but have also said they are determined to succeed in their mission to stabilise Afghanistan.

"Victory in this war is being able to hand over to an Afghan government and an Afghan army and police force that are capable of securing their own country," Cameron said in an interview with Britain's GMTV, also screened today.