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Talabani from Austria: Pullout talks can
begin next year
14.11.2005
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(AP) Talks on
withdrawing U.S.-led foreign troops from Iraq can
begin as early as at the end of next year, Iraq's
president said Monday, adding that British troops
likely could start a "step-by-step" exit in 2007.
President Jalal Talabani, in Austria to attend a
three-day conference on Islam, gave no timetable for
the full pull out of troops.
"We think that in the next two years, we will have
come so far and our police forces will have been
sufficiently trained, that it will be possible to
begin talks about pulling out foreign troops, either
during next year or after next year," he said.
Talibani's remarks that British troops likely could
start a "step by step" exit in 2007 apparently was
at odds with a suggestion he made in an interview
broadcast Sunday, when he told Britain's ITV network
that the 8,500 British soldiers in Iraq could be
gone by the end of next year.
"After the end of 2006, British troops can be pulled
out step by step in cooperation with Iraq forces,"
Talabani said Monday.
On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi said
U.S. troops could begin leaving in significant
numbers sometime next year. But President Bush has
refused to set a timetable, saying that would play
into the hands of insurgents.
Talabani said the security situation in Iraq was
improving and described the insurgency as mostly
limited to four provinces dominated by Sunni Muslim
hard-liners who strongly oppose any political
process while foreign troops remain.
The number of attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere has
been significantly reduced, he said, but he added
that the attacks are "increasingly brutal" and
target the general population. |
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and his Austrian
counterpart Heinz Fischer, from left, listen to
their national anthems during a welcome ceremony in
front of Vienna's Hofburg palace, on Monday, Nov.
14, 2005. Talabani is in Vienna for an official
three-day working visit and is scheduled to attend
an Islam Conference on Monday and Tuesday.
Photo: AP
Austrian President Heinz Fischer (R), Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani (2nd R), their wives Hero
Talabani (2nd L) and Margit Fischer (3rd L) listen
to their countries' national anthems in Vienna
November 14, 2005. Talabani is on a three-day
official visit to Austria.
Photo: Reuters |
"Those carrying out the attacks have opened a war
against the majority of the Iraqi population," he
said, according to the German translation of his
statements in Arabic. "That's not defending Islam,
but dragging Islam into the dirt."
Talabani said those orchestrating the attacks were
not from Iraq and were not part of any resistance
movement.
"It has nothing to do with resistance. These people
kill women, children. ... These people are not part
of any resistance against foreign troops," he said.
"They are criminals who violate human rights."
AP
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