Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Britain’s Royal Navy will return to Iraq to help train Iraqi sailors and protect oil platforms, the U.K. armed forces minister said, following an agreement that had been held up by lawmakers in Baghdad for five months.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, announced in December that some British personnel would stay in Iraq after the end of U.K. combat operations on May 27 to help train Iraq’s navy.

In June, the government in Baghdad said a deal had been reached with Britain and would be put to Iraqi lawmakers. U.K. ships meanwhile left Iraqi waters to join other U.K. vessels in the Persian Gulf and personnel withdrew to Kuwait until the proposal was ratified. Iraq, holder of the world’s third-largest oil reserves, passed the legislation on Oct. 13, allowing the return of British sailors over objections of some Shiite Muslim lawmakers who continue to oppose the arrangement.

Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell said in a written statement to the House of Commons in London today that the U.K. will notify Iraq “in the next few days” that it is ready to bring the agreement into force. He didn’t say when the British force will return or how many sailors will join the effort.

“Training of the Iraqi Navy has been paused since June, and it is important to resume this activity as soon as possible, to ensure that they quickly develop the capacity to protect their own territorial waters and the offshore oil platforms which are so vital to Iraq’s economic revival,” Rammell said.

The sailors will return within the next two to three weeks, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said. Between 100 and 150 personnel may return, he said.

Oil Facilities

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in June that the U.K. would focus on ways to train and support the Iraqi navy to protect ports and oil facilities in Basra and its port city of Umm Qasr, southern Iraq. Oil sales account for 90 percent of the Iraqi government’s revenue.

Britain removed all of its combat forces from Iraq by the end of July, ending a six-year deployment at their base near Basra. The U.K. had sent as many as 46,000 soldiers to help the U.S. oust Saddam Hussein. The British military scaled back as Iraqi forces took a bigger role in preventing terrorist attacks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2009 11:11 EDT