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| Iraq |
| US troops could leave Iraqi cities in June |
| 2008-08-24 |
| A draft agreement between the United States and Iraq contains no fixed dates for U.S. forces to withdraw, but Iraq would like combat troops out by the end of 2011, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has said. "The draft does not contain definite dates," Dabbagh said. He said Iraqi negotiators were proposing U.S. troops end patrols of Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year, U.S. combat troops leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and all U.S. troops leave three years later. ut he made clear those deadlines were not yet fixed, and represented the government's negotiating position, not an explicitly agreed text: "This is the Iraqi government's view and what the government wants." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Thursday to help seal a security the deal with Iraq, a draft of which is being circulated among Iraqi politicians for approval. She said the deal was "close", but poured cold water on reports that it was already agreed. "We'll have agreement when we have agreement. So all of those stories in the newspapers about what the agreement says probably ought to be disregarded until we have an agreement," Rice told a news conference in Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari also said the deal was "very close", and would include "time horizons" for U.S. withdrawal, but he did not refer to particular dates. The long-awaited pact will allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq beyond the end of this year, when a U.N. Security Council mandate enacted after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 expires. Replacing the U.N. mandate with a formal U.S.-Iraqi pact is seen as a milestone in Iraq's emergence as a sovereign state, giving Baghdad direct say over the presence of foreign troops on its soil for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein. But the deal's terms are politically sensitive in both countries, with Maliki determined to show that the 144,000 U.S. troops will not stay longer than needed, and U.S. President George W. Bush keen to avoid a firm schedule for them to leave. Dabbagh said the draft agreement envisions a flexible schedule for withdrawals based on conditions on the ground. "There are dates which will depend on the situation on the ground and the decisions of the Iraqi government, according to security developments and according to the need of the Iraqis." The White House said it hoped a deal would be reached soon. "The president and every American wants to see American troops come home, but not until the job is done and there is more security, more political progress, and more economic progress inside Iraq," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. |
| Posted by:Fred |