British and American troops will be withdrawn steadily from Iraq starting next year and are likely to be completely out of the country within five years, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said yesterday.

Setting out for the first time a possible timetable for departure of foreign forces, Mr. Straw said the 7,500 British troops deployed in southern Iraq are unlikely to be reduced before December, when elections for a permanent Iraqi government are due to be held.

However, the U.N. mandate for all foreign forces will expire at the start of 2006 and a review of their status is due to begin in two months’ time. Mr. Straw said the government was likely to take “decisions” about the future of British forces in the autumn.

“The progressive run-down of forces is likely to happen next year,” he said.

“As to the pace, I cannot say until later this year but over the next parliament British troops will be down to virtually nothing.”

America and Britain have avoided spelling out their “exit strategy” for fear of being seen to “cut and run” and encouraging insurgents to believe that the coalition could be driven out by bombs and guns.

But amid a relative lull in political violence – and with a new government taking shape in Baghdad after January’s momentous elections – the government now seems ready to talk about the coalition’s readiness to pull out.

Such a signal would also help fend off accusations by insurgents that the new Iraqi rulers are merely puppets of the Americans.

Mr. Straw may be seeking to assuage antiwar sentiment in Britain, particularly in his Blackburn constituency, which has a sizeable Muslim population.

Mr. Straw said timing of troop withdrawals will be determined by the Iraqi forces’ ability to take over responsibility for security and progress in Iraq’s political process.