Britain might start pulling its troops out of Iraq next year, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said yesterday.

A timeframe for the withdrawal may be drawn up towards the end of this year.

His comments come amid fierce campaigning ahead of the May 5 general election, with polls predicting Prime Minister Tony Blair's governing Labour Party will lose some of its dominant majority in parliament due in part to its unpopular Iraq policy.

"The period of progressive rundown in forces is much more likely to happen next year and not this year," Straw told the Financial Times newspaper.

He warned, however, that there would be no reduction in Britain's 7,500-strong military force - the largest foreign contingent in Iraq after the US - before the end of the year, when a UN mandate authorising their presence is due to expire.

Any decision on pulling out troops would be taken in consultation with Washington and other coalition partners, Straw said.

Britain has said it will keep troops as long as the Iraqi government wants them

PHOTO CAPTION

An Iraqi man walks along a street as British soldiers patrol the streets in the southern city of Basra, 500 kms from Baghdad 24 March 2005. (AFP)