MIDDLE EAST:The United States must provide a "very clear timeline" to withdraw its troops from Iraq as part of an agreement allowing them to stay beyond this year, Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari said yesterday.
It was the strongest public assertion yet that Iraq is demanding a timeline. US president George W Bush has long resisted setting a firm schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq, although last month the White House began speaking of a general "time horizon" and "aspirational goals" to withdraw.
Iraq's leaders have become more confident of their ability to provide security as the country has become safer. But attacks which killed at least 15 people yesterday, including a US soldier, were a reminder it is still a violent place.
In an interview yesterday, Mr Zebari said the agreement, including the timeline, was "very close" and would probably be presented to the Iraqi parliament in early September.
Asked if Iraq would accept a document that did not include dates for a withdrawal, Mr Zebari said: "No, no. Definitely there has to be a very clear timeline."
"The talks are still ongoing. There's been a great deal of progress. The deal is very close. It is about to be closed," Mr Zebari said of the agreement, which will replace a UN Security Council resolution authorising the US presence, which expires at the end of this year.
A sticking point in the negotiations is Washington's wish that its troops be immune from Iraqi law. In July, Iraq's deputy speaker of parliament said parliament would be likely to veto any deal if this condition were granted.
Iraqi officials have said they would like to see all US combat troops out by October 2010. An agreement that included that date would require the Bush administration effectively to accept a timeline almost identical to the one proposed by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who opposed the 2003 invasion.
Iraq has taken an increasingly assertive stance in negotiations with the US after prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's forces scored military victories against militia groups this year, giving the government a confidence boost.
The high price of oil means the Iraqi treasury has more money for reconstruction projects than it can figure out how to spend, and violence is at a four-year low.
Still, US commanders say they worry that a hasty withdrawal could allow violence to resume.
An attack yesterday involving a roadside bomb, a suicide bomber and small arms fire in the town of Tamirya, just north of Baghdad, killed a US soldier and four Iraqi civilians, and wounded 23 people, including two US soldiers.
In Khanaqin, another town north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew up a bomb-laden minibus, killing three people.
Five roadside bomb attacks in or near Baghdad killed seven people and wounded at least 23.
- (Reuters)