London, Mar. 29 : Britain has offered its full backing for a renewed military offensive inside Pakistan.

British Defence Secretary John Hutton said his country supports targeting Pakistan-based Taliban and al-Qaida positions and urged Europe to begin offering assistance to eradicate insurgents in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Confirming that Britain was being drawn into a widening regional conflict, The Guardian quoted Hutton as saying that the time had come to target Taliban and al-Qaida havens inside Pakistan.

Washington, Mar. 19 : British Defense Minister John Hutton has said that the key to success in the `War on terror' in Afghanistan lies in rooting out the command and control centers of Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups operating from Pakistan.

Talking to media persons before meeting with US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Hutton said: "The Taliban and al-Qaeda have got to know there is no safe haven."

Kabul - British Defence Minister John Hutton visited his country's troops in southern Afghanistan, while a top US general met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, officials said Wednesday.

The visit by top US and British officials comes amid the Afghan government's constant demands to have more control over NATO troops stationed in the war-wracked country.

London, Dec 20 : British Defence Secretary John Hutton has compared the Taliban and al-Qaeda to the Nazis, saying that the Western forces in Afghanistan are defending the country's values as they did in the Second World War.

Hutton told in an interview to The Times that British forces faced a long fight to defeat insurgents in Afghanistan.

He said that like the war to defeat Hitler, the military campaign in Afghanistan is "a vital national security mission" and not just a matter of foreign affairs.

London, Oct 29 : New British Defence Secretary John Hutton has said that the Iraq war would be over by 2010 when all of UK’s forces would be substantially withdrawn from Basra. A rapid drop in troop numbers is also expected during early 2009.

Hutton stressed that withdrawal of troops would remain subject to conditions on the ground, but added he was “optimistic”.

Even as more than five years after the invasion, there are still around 4000 British soldiers stationed on the outskirts of the southern Iraqi city.

London, Oct. 20 : British Defence Secretary John Hutton, who is currently on his first visit to Iraq, has said that all British troops could be pulled out of that country by 2009.

Speaking after talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the, Hutton said that Britain is likely to undertake a "fundamental change" in its role in Iraq in the first months of 2009.

This included the possibility of the military taking on a training role, The Telegraph quoted Hutton, as saying.

He hailed the "significant progress" that had been made in Iraq in recent months, and welcomed the improvement in the security situation across the country.