Britain to withdraw troops next year

Britain announced Wednesday it will withdraw all but a handful of its 4,000 soldiers from Iraq next year, ending a mission that was unpopular at home and failed to curb the rise of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in the south.

The decision comes as the United States is weighing a drawdown in its nearly 150,000-strong force. President-elect Barack Obama has called for withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq by the spring of 2010, shifting responsibility to the Iraqis for the defense of the country against Sunni and Shiite extremists.

The British announcement, which was expected, signals a conclusion to the role of the second biggest troop contributor to the multinational coalition after the United States. More than 45,000 British troops took part in the March 2003 invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.

Athens, Greece

Riots, strike shut down country

Hooded youths attacked the Athens courthouse with firebombs Wednesday, and a general strike by labor unions shut down most of the country as nationwide urban unrest entered its fifth night.

The worst riots in years, sparked by the fatal shooting by police of a 15-year-old boy Saturday, have left Greece’s fragile center-right government fighting for survival. The strike by about 100,000 workers shut down most transportation as well as banks and hospitals.

Leaders of the center-left opposition Wednesday repeated their demand for early elections. They said the street violence shows that Greeks are fed up with economic woes and corruption scandals under the administration of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

Kabul, Afghanistan

Police killed in airstrike

U.S. forces mistakenly killed six Afghan national policemen and wounded 13 others during an early morning raid Wednesday on a suspected Taliban leader, U.S. forces here said.

The military said in a statement that Afghan police officers fired on U.S. forces while they were pursuing a suspected Taliban leader in the restive southern province of Zabul. The suspected leader had barricaded himself in a building.

After U.S. forces killed him, someone began firing small arms at them. The troops responded and eventually called in an airstrike that killed the Afghan police officers.

U.S. military officials told McClatchy that it was a Special Forces operation.