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BAGHDAD (Reuters)
- British officials said they expected all foreign
combat troops to withdraw from Iraq within four
years, as British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew
into Baghdad to show support to its new government
on Monday.
It was the firmest statement yet from one of the two
main allies in the 2003 liberation to topple Saddam
Hussein on a date for pulling out troops from Iraq.
Washington has said it is too soon to discuss such a
timetable.
Iraq's new prime minister, speaking at a joint press
conference with Blair, said he believed Iraqi forces
could take over security in most of the country by
the end of this year.
"There's an agreement and, according to this
schedule for handing over security, Samawa and Amara
provinces will be handed over to Iraqis in June and
by the end of this year this operation will be
completed except for Baghdad and maybe Anbar," Nuri
al-Maliki said.
Blair, after meeting Maliki in Baghdad's heavily
fortified Green Zone, declined to be drawn on a
timetable for withdrawal but stressed that foreign
troops would pull out as fast as Iraqi forces were
able to take over.
Maliki's timetable, which would coincide with the
expiry of a United Nations mandate for the U.S.-led
Coalition forces, is more ambitious than anything
voiced publicly by U.S. or British commanders, who
stress that any withdrawal will depend on Iraqi
forces being capable of ensuring security.
Samawa and Amara are southern, Shi'ite provinces,
largely peaceful and controlled by British troops.
Their commanders have said they may withdraw from
some provinces soon. Anbar is the restive western
desert stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents.
The British official said: "The aim is to take Iraq
to a position where the multinational force is able
to withdraw during its (the government's) period in
office."
"During the four years, the present role and
structure of the multinational force will change and
come to an end," he said, adding some troops may
stay beyond the government's four-year term in a
non-combatant role to train Iraqis.
Reuters
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