http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K0UQ20100721
WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:08am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Britain could start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan as early as next year, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday.

Britain has said it wants to pull the bulk of its 9,500-strong force out of the war zone within five years, in line with an international aspiration to give Afghans full control of their security by the end of 2014.

The United States, which has committed the bulk of foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan, hopes to start bringing soldiers home from July 2011.

Asked in an interview with BBC radio whether Britain could match that, Cameron said: "Yes, we can but it should be based on the conditions on the ground."

"I mean, the faster we can transition districts and provinces to Afghan control, clearly the faster that some forces can be brought home," he said during a visit to Washington.

"I don't want to raise expectations about that because that transition should be based on how well the security situation is progressing."

The new prime minister, in charge of a Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition that took power in May, said the public should be clear that, by 2015, Britain would not have "combat troops or large numbers" in Afghanistan.

Cameron visited the Arlington military cemetery Wednesday where he laid a wreath and met 20 British veterans.

In London, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed the timetable for the withdrawal of British combat troops.

"We do not wish to see British troops in a combat role in Afghanistan by 2015," Clegg told parliament.

"No timetable can be chiseled in stone but we are absolutely determined, given how long we have been in Afghanistan, given that we are six months into an 18-month military strategy, embarking on a new political strategy, that we must be out in a combat role by 2015," he added.

Cameron discussed Afghanistan and exit strategies with U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday in his first visit to the White House as prime minister.

Both men are under strong domestic pressure to bring troops home but have also said they are determined to succeed in their mission to stabilize the country.

"Victory in this war is being able to hand over to an Afghan government and an Afghan army and police force that are capable of securing their own country," Cameron said in an interview with Britain's GMTV, also screened Wednesday.

(Reporting by Matt Falloon; Editing by Alison Williams)