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Baghdad (Agencies) - Iraq's new president Jalal
Talabani has restated his support for a continued US
and Australian military presence in Iraq, one day
after large demonstrations by supporters of Shiite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demanded US troops leave the
country.
"I think we are in great need to have American and
other allied forces in Iraq until we will be able to
rebuild our military forces," Mr Talabani said.
Branding Sadr a "criminal" who should be arrested,
Mr Talabani said he opposed setting a timetable for
the US military's exit from the country.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of Sadr's followers
marched through Baghdad chanting "No, no, USA.” The
protesters also demanded the establishment of a
government based on Islamic law when the new
government begins rewriting the country's
constitution. The protest marked the second
anniversary of the fall of Baghdad after the US
invasion of the country in 2003.
Mr Talabani, an Iraqi Kurd who was elected president
on Thursday after lengthy negotiations between
ethnic and tribal factions in the Iraqi Parliament,
predicted Iraq would be able to reconstitute its
armed forces within two years.
However, he suggested that even after that, the
country will maintain a close security relationship
with the United States. "We will remain in full
consultation and coordination, cooperation with our
American friends, who came to liberate our country,"
he said.
Mr Talabani also rebuffed the calls to establish an
Islamic state under the new constitution, which he
predicted could be completed by the August 15
deadline. Iraq's Governing Council already ruled
against an Islamic government, Mr Talabani said,
even while recognising Islam as the country's
principal religion.
Mr Talabani, who for many years led the Iraqi
Kurdish minority's resistance to the regime of
deposed president Saddam Hussein, also suggested he
did not support an independent state for the Kurds.
The Kurds, he said, have accepted becoming part of a
federation within the framework of a democratic
Iraq.
Agencies
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