McCain Meets British Prime Minister

[March 20, 2008]  LONDON (AP) -- U.S. presidential hopeful John McCain met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday to discuss Iraq, the world economy and climate change, but declined to offer any advice publicly about the pace of British troop withdrawals from southern Iraq.

Brown hopes to cut British forces near Basra from 4,000 to about 2,500 in coming months.

"I fully appreciate that British public opinion has been frustrated by sometimes our lack of progress" in Iraq and Afghanistan, McCain told reporters outside Brown's official residence in London.

On Tuesday, he told reporters that pulling out of Iraq quickly would be a mistake that would boost Iran and al-Qaida.

McCain, who has clinched enough delegate support to win the Republican Party nomination, stressed that his warnings about the dangers of a precipitate withdrawal from Iraq were about U.S. forces only.

Britain's decision "is made by the British government and people," he said.

"We appreciate enormously the long service and sacrifice of the British men and women in the military both in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said.

The visit to London was part of McCain's weeklong tour of Middle East and Europe, offering the likely Republican presidential nominee a chance to burnish his credentials as a global statesman.

Traveling as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, McCain also planned to meet with Britain's opposition Conservative party leader, David Cameron, and Europe's environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas.

The delegation -- including senators Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham -- has already visited Iraq, Jordan and Israel and planned to travel to Paris later Thursday for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Brown's meeting Thursday was his first with McCain. The British leader has not met with Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, but is a longtime friend of Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and met with former President Clinton during a visit to the United States in July.

[Associated Press; By DAVID STRINGER]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.