BEIJING, June 15 -- British Secretary of Defense John Reid said that Iraq would be capable of taking over interior security affairs in 18 months. 
 
    Visiting British Secretary of Defense John Reid told the media in Prague that Iraqi security troops would be capable of taking over interior security affairs in about 18 months.

    Reid noted there have been a considerable number of people in Iraqi military service that have received training from coalition forces.

    Regarding the withdrawal of British troops in Iraq, Reid said his government will make the decision when the Iraqi political and security situation becomes stable.

    Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted in a BBC interview that Iraq was "statistically" no safer today than it was at the end of the war.

    His comments followed a bomb explosion outside a bank in the northern city of Kirkuk.

    A total of 1698 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)