British troops will likely be needed to stay in Iraq until at least 2006, a parliamentary committee said on Thursday in a report that pointed to a series of post-war "mistakes and misjudgments."
"In light of the state of the insurgency and the condition of the Iraqi security forces it seems likely that British forces will be present in Iraq in broadly similar numbers to the current deployment into 2006," the cross-party Defense Committee said in its report.
The committee said London and Washington had underestimated the "insurgency" and neglected Iraq's borders with Syria and Iran, facilitating an influx of foreign fighters.
Meanwhile, a video released by an Iraqi group has shown what it claims is a kidnapped journalist carrying a German passport. The video was delivered by a group calling itself the Protectors of Islam Brigade.
The video showed a man who identified himself as a German journalist called Hassan al-Zaydi. He appealed to the German government to free all Muslims and to sever security cooperation with Iraq.
