IRAQ: President Jalal Talabani said yesterday that Iraq would not set a timetable for a withdrawal of US troops, backing away from his published remarks that the United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops by the end of the year.
Mr Talabani, speaking at a joint news conference after a meeting with President George W Bush, said, however, that he hoped that by the end of 2006 Iraqi security forces would be strong enough to start taking over from "many" US troops.
"We will set no timetable for withdrawal, Mr President. A timetable will help the terrorists, will encourage them that they could defeat the superpower of the world and the Iraqi people," Mr Talabani said in remarks that aligned him with Mr Bush's often-stated view that a timetable for withdrawal would embolden the insurgency in Iraq.
"We hope that by the end of 2006 our security forces are up to the level of taking responsibility from many American troops, with complete agreement with Americans," he said.
President Talabani had said in an interview published in the Washington Post that the US could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year because there were enough Iraqi forces ready to begin taking control of parts of the country.
He said in the interview he would discuss reductions in US forces during the meeting with Mr Bush and he thought the US could pull out some troops immediately.
President Bush, facing waning support at home for the 2½-year war in Iraq, has rejected the notion of setting a timetable for a withdrawal, saying only that as Iraqi security forces assume more control, US forces can stand down. He also reiterated strong words against Syria, which the US accuses of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, saying Damascus was isolating itself.
"The Syrian leader must understand we take his lack of action seriously. And the government is going to become more and more isolated as a result of two things: one, not being co-operative with the Iraqi government in terms of securing Iraq; and two, not being fully transparent about what they did in Lebanon," Mr Bush said in answer to a question on Syria.
"And this is a subject of conversation, of course, I'll have with allies in places like New York . . . Syria must be a focus of getting them to change their behaviour, particularly as it regards to democracy,. " he said.
Mr Bush will be in New York this week for the UN General Assembly session.
US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said on Monday: "Our patience is running out with Syria. They need to decide: are they going to be with a successful Iraq or are they going to be an obstacle to the success of Iraq?"- (Reuters)