Britain is likely to begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq next year, according to Jack Straw, who sought for the first time to set out a timeframe for withdrawal. The foreign secretary's comments in an interview yesterday marked an attempt by the government to spell out its thinking on how to bring about a handover to Iraqi forces - and defuse the war as an election issue.

But there would be no reduction in troop levels before the end of 2005, Mr Straw said.