American troops will not be withdrawing from Iraq starting next June under a faster timetable for self-rule in the country, US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld, said today.
Mr Jalal Talabani, current president of the Governing Council, had earlier announced a sovereign Iraqi government would take over power from occupation authorities by the end of June 2004.
Iraq's US administrator Mr Paul Bremer was recalled to Washington last week for hastily convened talks on Iraq. On his return to Baghdad, the US-appointed Governing Council unveiled a political timetable.
"The presence of the forces of the United States and other countries will be discussed by the transitional government," Mr Talabani said. "If we need them to stay, we will ask them to stay. If we don't, we will respectfully ask them to leave."
Mr Rumsfeld told reporters: "This has nothing to do with US troops in Iraq.
"The timetable, or the way ahead that the Governing Council has been describing, relates to the governance aspects of the country and not to the security aspects. That's on a separate track.
"We're working to bring in additional coalition forces, we're making plans for the rotation of our forces out and new US and coalition forces in," he said.
"And the announcements with respect to Iraqi governance don't have a relationship to that. And any stories that you're seeing like that ought to have someone raise questions about the source," Mr Rumsfeld said. Mr Rumsfeld said the United States had yet to decide details of possible changes to its military presence around the world, including in Japan and South Korea, where Washington stations 37,000 troops.
He was due to fly to Seoul later today to discuss the future status of US forces there and elsewhere in the region.