Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Britain and Denmark said they would bring home some troops from Iraq as local forces take over more responsibility for security around the southern city of Basra.

Britain will cut its presence to about 5,500 soldiers working out of the Basra Air Base this summer from about 7,100 currently, Prime Minister Tony Blair said. While troops will remain through 2008, they increasingly will support Iraqi forces. Denmark will withdraw most of its 460 troops by August.

Blair, who steps down as prime minister this year, has lost popularity in Britain because of his support for the war in Iraq and the mission to oust Saddam Hussein four years ago. Today's reductions come as President George W. Bush is reinforcing the American presence in Baghdad and al-Anbar province in the west, attempting to counter mounting violence in those regions.

``The situation in Basra is very different from Baghdad,'' Blair said in Parliament in London today. ``It is still a difficult and sometimes dangerous place, but many extremists have been arrested or left the city. The reported levels of murder and kidnapping are significantly down.''

In Baghdad and al-Anbar, fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has caused a spiral of violence that is killing about 3,000 people a month. Bush is sending 21,500 more soldiers and Marines to try to gain control of the situation. The additional troops, who already have begun arriving, will bring the total number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq to about 153,000.

`Coalition Intact'

``The British have done what is really the plan for the country as a whole, which is to be able to transfer security responsibilities to the Iraqis as conditions permit,'' U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today at a press conference in Berlin. ``The coalition remains intact.''

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Copenhagen that his government will keep four helicopters staffed by 50 soldiers in Iraq to continue to support the mission.

Even after the troop reductions, the U.K. will provide the second-biggest contingent of coalition forces in Iraq. Among the other contributors are South Korea, Australia, Poland, Romania, Georgia, El Salvador, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Australia plans to keep 1,400 soldiers in and around Iraq, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said today in Perth. Bulgaria's Parliament voted today to keep its 155 troops in Iraq beyond March, when their current mandate expires.

Among countries that have withdrawn their forces are Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Japan and New Zealand. The Dutch have only 15 soldiers in the country working as trainers. Lithuania said today that it may not replace some of its 57 soldiers when they return home from Iraq this summer.

No Retreat

Like his allies, Bush is under pressure at home to end the conflict. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last week approved a non-binding resolution expressing disapproval of Bush's plan to add more troops. Bush's fellow Republicans managed to block a vote in the Senate on a similar resolution.

Vice President Dick Cheney today rejected the idea of pulling out early.

The American people ``will not support a policy of retreat,'' Vice President Dick Cheney said in Japan while visiting sailors aboard the USS Kitty Hawk in Yokosuka harbor. ``We know that if we leave Iraq before the mission is completed the enemy will come after us.''

Terrorists want to ``seize control of a country in the Middle East so they can acquire a base for launching attacks and oil wealth to finance their ambitions,'' Cheney added. ``The only way they can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon our mission.''

`Tough and Difficult'

Blair defended his original decision to back the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and said the coalition isn't responsible for the current carnage there.

``I simply don't accept that the innocent people who are dying in Iraq are dying as a result of our actions,'' Blair said in response to questions from opposition lawmakers. ``I don't believe it would have been right to leave Saddam Hussein in power. The reason why it's tough and difficult in Iraq is because the terrorists are making it difficult.''

Blair has been planning the troop reduction for several months, partly in response to opposition criticism that he has pushed the U.K. military harder in Iraq and Afghanistan than its equipment and manpower permit.

Yesterday, Blair's Labour Party suffered its worst result in an opinion poll since its defeat to Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1983. The main opposition party had the support of 42 percent of voters compared to 29 percent for Labour, according to the survey by ICM Ltd.

``While many of us supported the intervention in Iraq, there have been many, many bad mistakes,'' Conservative leader David Cameron said today. ``We must learn broader lessons of last six years'' and must move ``beyond military force'' to fight terrorism.

To contact the reporter for this story: Mark Deen in London at markdeen@bloomberg.net; Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 21, 2007 11:00 EST