London - Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday paid tribute to British troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying that their "sacrifice" had helped to protect Britain from terrorism.

"The pace of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq remains demanding but it's clear to me that your efforts are making a real difference," Brown said in a message broadcast on BBC radio.

He said it was "essential to ensure" that Afghanistan did not "again become a base for international terrorism."

In Iraq, the job of training up the country's own troops and police forces would "soon be done," said Brown, who last week announced that the remaining British troops would leave Iraq by the end of July, 2009.

However, press reports said Tuesday that the British Army was working on plans to facilitate a speedy withdrawal should the Iraqi parliament fail in its efforts to extend the legal foundation for the continued deployment of British troops in the country. (dpa)