GORDON BROWN joined his Iraqi counterpart yesterday to declare the war-torn country "open for business" on the day that UK forces finally ended combat operations there after six years.
The meeting at Downing Street saw the Prime Minister promise a "long-term partnership of equals" between the UK and Iraq with co-operation across many fronts, including science, the economy and business.
Mr Brown and Iraqi prime minister Nouri a
l Maliki signed a declaration of friendship between the two countries and hailed the war as a success.
"We hope to sign an agreement with the Iraqi government about the future role that we can play in training and in protecting the oil supplies of Iraq," Mr Brown said.
"That will be an agreement between our two countries, rather than any new United Nations resolution.
"I gather this will go to the Iraqi parliament within the next few days and this is part of a new, deeper relationship between our two countries."
Mr Brown also promised to allow more Iraqi students to come to Britain to study.
He paid tribute to the military personnel who had served in the conflict and promised those who lost their lives would not be forgotten.
He said that a memorial honouring their memory would be "preserved for ever" at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, Staffordshire.
"Today Iraq is a success story. We owe much of that to the efforts of British troops.
"Our mission has not always been an easy one, many have said that we would fail," he said. "Britain can be proud of our legacy that we leave there."
But, with Britain's part in the war coming to an end after six years, the debate over whether UK forces should have been involved continued to rage.
Conservative leader David Cameron, who voted for the war, joined long-standing opponents of military operations in again calling for a full inquiry into it.
"There are vital lessons to learn and we need to learn them rapidly and the only justification for delay can, I'm afraid, be a political one," he said.
Angus Robertson, the SNP's defence spokesman, complained that the end had been too long coming.
"Throughout the last seven years the courage and professionalism of our armed forces has never been in question, and the human toll of the war is difficult to bear," he said.
"The contrast between the conduct of our forces and the politicians who put them in harms way stands in stark contrast.
"That is why we must have an immediate inquiry into this illegal and unwanted war and its aftermath."
The Stop The War Coalition said the British "occupation" of the south of Iraq had ended in "unmitigated disaster".
A spokesman said: "The British soldiers will leave Basra in a much worse condition than they found it, its population depleted and demoralised, its infrastructure devastated."
