Baghdad  - British troops will withdraw from the southern Iraqi province of Basra at the end of March, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Friday.

"The British forces' withdrawal from Basra will begin on March 31, 2009, to be replaced by US forces," Miliband - on the second day of a visit to Iraq - told Voices of Iraq news agency.

Miliband, who had talks in Baghdad with Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki and other Iraqi officials, added that his country's "support for Basra" would continue through British investors there.

Baghdad- British Foreign Minister David Miliband arrived in Baghdad on Thursday for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials as Britain's military prepares to withdraw completely from Iraq.

A source in the Iraqi government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Miliband is to discuss the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, the training and logistics that these troops perform, as well as rebuilding initiatives.

London, Feb. 16 : If his comment linking the settlement of the Kashmir dispute to the ending of terrorism in South Asia were not enough, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband continues to commit political gaffes that could terminate his aspiration to sit in 10, Downing Street one day.

Miliband is now facing fresh pressure over torture allegations after it was revealed that his officials asked the US for help in suppressing crucial evidence.

London  - British officials have been given the green light by US authorities to visit a detainee at Guantanamo Bay in order to prepare his return to Britain, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday.

Britain has previously said that it would accept Binyam Mohamed, a 30-year-old Ethiopian, who was resident in Britain before his arrest in 2002 and transfer to Guantanamo two years later.

Miliband made his announcement after a meeting in London Wednesday with Lieutenant Colonel Yvonne Bradley, the detainee's US military lawyer.

London, Feb. 6 : British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has been accused of blocking the publication of secret papers that disclose how the British security services were complicit in the torture of a suspected terrorist.

Miliband appeared before Parliament to justify his decision not to release information on the treatment of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay.

However, he indicated that British intelligence officers might be prosecuted over their role in the affair.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reaffirmed the United States' "special relationship" with Britain after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday.

Miliband became the first foreign official to meet Clinton since her confirmation last month as the top US diplomat. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held separate talks with Clinton just hours later.