The British mission to put Iraqi forces in frontline control of security in Basra is "complete", Tony Blair has said.
The Prime Minister now looks set to reveal the next stage of Iraq policy after his comments on BBC One's Sunday AM programme.
Mr Blair had promised to make a Commons statement when the operation, codenamed Sinbad, was completed.
"The operation that we have been conducting in Basra is now complete and that operation has specifically been to put the Iraqi forces in the main frontline control of security in the city.
"And it has been successful as an operation and as a result there has been reconstruction that has come in behind it and we have been able to make real progress," he said.
The transfer of frontline control is a significant part of moves towards a total handover of control of Basra province to the Iraqi authorities. Downing Street said Mr Blair would be making a statement but said it would not be on Monday.
The Prime Minister also rejected suggestions he should bear responsibility for ongoing violence in Iraq. Sectarian tensions were not created by "some planning error" by the coalition, Tony Blair said, although he did feel a "deep sense of responsibility" for bringing it to an end.
"Of course I am devastated by the numbers of people who have died in Iraq, but it's not British and American troops that are killing them," he told BBC One's Sunday AM. "They are being killed by people who are deliberately using terrorism to try to stop the country getting on its feet.
"It's not a question of being culpable. I feel a deep sense of responsibility for putting the situation right. We have absolute responsibility to put things right. What I completely dispute is that the reason Iraq has got the difficulties it has ... is simply because of issues to do with planning before the war."
The News Of The World reported that Mr Blair was preparing to announce changes that would mean the UK contingent being cut by almost half as soon as May. But asked about the report, he said: "Let's just wait and see."
