LONDON (AFP) – Britain will withdraw all but 400 of its troops from Iraq by the end of next July, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Thursday, but rejected any link with pressure to send more forces to Afghanistan.

The British premier also rebuffed growing calls for a formal inquiry into Britain's decision to join U.S. President George W. Bush in the controversial U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Speaking in the House of Commons a day after making a surprise visit to the violence-scarred country, Brown confirmed that British forces would almost all leave just over six years after they arrived.
""The fundamental change of mission... will take place at the latest by May 31,"" he said, referring to a term he coined earlier this year to reflect restoring ties with Baghdad similar to its relations with any other country.
""At that point we will begin a rapid withdrawal of our troops, taking the total from just under 4,100 to under 400 by July 31. The majority of those remaining troops will be dedicated to naval training,"" he added.
The timetable is in line with a bill approved by the Iraqi cabinet calling for all foreign troops except for U.S. forces to end their missions by the end of May and pull out definitively by the end of July.
The deployment of U.S. troops is governed by a landmark security pact.
Most of Britain's remaining troops in Iraq are based near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, which Brown visited on Wednesday after an unannounced trip to Baghdad.
Brown's predecessor Tony Blair was widely criticized for his decision to join the U.S. administration in the 2003 invasion of the country to oust Saddam Hussein.
The Labor government has long resisted calls for a formal inquiry into that decision, but Brown's confirmation of an end to Britain's military presence has fuelled renewed calls for such a probe once troops are out.
David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, welcomed the withdrawal announcement but questioned why Brown had not announced a ""robust, independent inquiry"" into the war.
But Brown insisted that the question of an inquiry would only be considered ""once our troops have come home"".
A total of 178 British soldiers have died in Iraq since the invasion, including 136 from hostile action.
Meanwhile the British leader is under growing pressure to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Britain has around 8,000 troops there as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). They are largely based in Helmand, where they are battling Taliban insurgents.
Recently Brown confirmed that Britain had sent an extra 300 troops until next August, while U.S. president-elect Barack Obama is expected to push for more troops there after taking power in January.
On Thursday Brown made no comment on shifting forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, adding that it was wrong to compare the two missions.
""We will look at the situation in Afghanistan, as we do, on its own merits, on what needs to be done because of what is happening in Afghanistan itself and to that extent it is unrelated to any decisions that we make in Iraq,"" he said.
British troop numbers in the Iraq campaign peaked at 46,000 in March and April 2003 for the invasion.
After British troops leave next year, relations between London and Baghdad will in theory revert to those in any other country.
This was ""in other words the realization of the normal defense relationships, similar to that we have with our other key partners in the region, (which) was our joint objective for 2009,"" said Brown.