Talabani says U.S. troops should stay as Baghdad
lawmakers discuss withdrawal timetable
May 12, 2007
CAMBRIDGE, England - Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani said Friday that his country may need U.S.
troops for one or two more years. The statement came
after lawmakers in Baghdad backed a drawdown in the
number of foreign troops in Iraq.
Talabani told students at Cambridge University that
all of Iraq was safer because of Saddam Hussein’s
removal and that many people were living normal
lives. “I think that in one or two years we will be
able to recruit our forces, to prepare our forces
and say goodbye to our friends,” he said.
On Thursday, a majority of Iraqi lawmakers endorsed
a draft bill calling for a timetable for the
withdrawal of foreign troops and demanding a freeze
on the number already in the country.
The legislation was being discussed even as U.S.
lawmakers were locked in a dispute with the White
House over their call to start reducing the size of
the U.S. force in the coming months.
The proposed Iraqi legislation, drafted by the
parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shiite
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was signed by 144 members of
the 275-member house, said Nassar al-Rubaie, the
leader of the Sadrist bloc. |
British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets with Iraq's
President Jalal Talabini in Number 10 Downing Street
on Friday May 11, 2007 in London AP |
|
The Sadrist bloc, which holds 30 parliamentary seats
and sees the U.S.-led forces as an occupying army,
has pushed similar bills before, but this was the
first time it garnered the support of a majority of
lawmakers.
Would freeze size of foreign forces
The bill would require the Iraqi government to seek
approval from parliament before it requests an
extension of the U.N. mandate for foreign forces to
be in Iraq, al-Rubaie said. It also calls for a
timetable for the troop withdrawal and a freeze on
the size of the foreign forces.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously in
November to extend the mandate of the U.S.-led
forces until the end of 2007.
The resolution, however, said the council "will
terminate this mandate earlier if requested by the
government of Iraq."
The measure, which has not yet been introduced in
parliament, reflects growing disenchantment among
the lawmakers over U.S. involvement in Iraq and the
government's failure to curb the violence.
Ali al-Adeeb, a senior Shiite lawmaker and an aide
to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, questioned the
wisdom of asking foreign forces to leave when Iraqi
forces were not ready to take full responsibility
for security in the country.
"Their withdrawal will not benefit anyone if our
forces are not ready," said al-Adeeb, who said he
did not back the bill. "There must be a commitment
from foreign parties to train our forces."
Al-Rubaie said he personally handed the Iraqi bill
to speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani on Wednesday.
Not officially submitted
Deputy Speaker Khaled al-Attiyah said the draft
legislation had not been officially submitted to the
speaker, but was currently being reviewed by the
house's legal department, apparently the final step
before it can be submitted.
Al-Rubaie said al-Mashhadani had a week to schedule
a debate on the bill before he would use the
majority that backs it to force one.
However, his majority might be shaky.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said he had backed
the draft only on the condition that the withdrawal
timetable be linked to a schedule for training and
equipping Iraq's security forces.
"But the sponsors of the legislation did not include
our observations in the draft. This is deception,"
he said.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which launched two
uprisings against U.S. troops in 2004, has been
blamed in much of the recent sectarian violence
against Sunnis and has been one of the main targets
of a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown.
Last month, the cleric ordered his six Cabinet
ministers to leave the government after the Shiite
prime minister refused to put a timetable for
foreign troops withdrawal.
AP
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