CANBERRA, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill on Thursday said Australia will not send more troops to Iraq to replace departing British troops.

    Hill made the statements after British Defense Secretary John Reid said earlier this week that he expected British troops would start pulling out of Iraq during the next year.

    "If you're asking me will we send further people to replace any others that are leaving, no we have no intention of doing that," Australian Associated Press quoted Hill as saying at HMAS Albatross, the largest operational naval establishment and the Navy's only Air Station, on south coast of the state of New South Wales.

    "We would like to see our troops home as soon as the job is done," he said.

    "When we complete our training of the Iraqi security forces in southern Iraq we trust that they'll be able to take over the security function and we will no longer be necessary," he said.

    He was referring to the 450 more Australian troops sent to Iraq' s south earlier this year to provide security for Japanese humanitarian teams and help train Iraqi forces.

    Before the deployment of these troops, Australia had maintained around 900 troops in the Middle East. Enditem