Iraq insists on timetable for withdrawal of foreign troops
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008
16:30GMT—12:30PM/EST
IRAQ – US – SECURITY – DEAL
Washington, 8 July (IranVNC)—Iraq’s national security advisor today said his country cannot sign any security deal with the United States unless it includes a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
“We can’t have a memorandum of understanding with foreign forces unless it has dates and clear horizons determining the departure of foreign forces,” Reuters quoted Mouwaffak al-Rubaie as telling reporters in the holy city of Najaf. “We’re unambiguously talking about their departure.”
He added that Iraq was waiting “impatiently for the day when the last foreign soldier leaves Iraq”, Reuters reported.
Al-Rubaie’s comments came one day after Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki proposed the possibility of a memorandum of understanding with the United States that included setting a timetable .
The U.S. has not yet commented on al-Rubaie’s statement, but US President George W. Bush has long opposed setting a timetable for troop withdrawals.
Yesterday, White House spokesperson Scott Stanzel said the U.S. was not negotiating a “hard date” for withdrawals, but noted that there could be “some understanding of time-frames” involved in talks with Iraqi officials.
Last month, al-Maliki said that talks with Washington on a more formal status-of-forces agreement that would define the presence of American troops in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires on 31 December had reached an “impasse”.
Some of the contentious issues included the US desire to maintain control of Iraqi airspace, to have the authority to carry out military operations in Iraq and to arrest Iraqi civilians, Reuters reported.
Sources: Reuters, White House website, Associated Press
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