Troops could leave Iraq in 2006
A deal on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq could be reached by the end of 2006, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani has said.
But he warned that a gradual withdrawal is required, rather than an immediate pullout, which would be a “catastrophe” for Iraq and would lead to civil war.
Mr Talabani said that Iraqis were training their police and soldiers in preparation for the final security changeover.
“We are looking forward to the day we can say goodbye to the forces of the coalition,” he told ITV1’s Jonathan Dimbleby.
“If things continue as they are, I think by the end of 2006 we can discuss the end of the presence of foreign troops.”
The head of the British army, General Sir Mike Jackson, said he agreed that British troops could pull out of Iraq at the end of 2006.
“The president has said I think that we could leave within a year or so; I would agree we most certainly could”, he said in a BBC interview.
He said that the end of 2006 “was well within the range of what is realistically possible”.
Defence secretary John Reid told the BBC earlier that a pullout starting next year was a possibility.
But he added: “I’ve always said we will stay there until the job is done. The job will be done when we can achieve the handover to the Iraqi forces themselves.
“We are training them, they are becoming more capable and it’s quite possible that in the course of the next year that’s a process which could begin.”
Mr Talabani said violence was frustrating the withdrawal process. He said: “The terrorists have declared war on the Iraqi people, not the forces of the coalition.”
He was asked to confirm whether his prediction of UK troops leaving “at the end of 2006” amounted to a commitment.
But the Kurdish leader said it was merely an “estimation of the situation” and that he had not been in negotiations.
“There is not one Iraqi that wants that forever the troops remain in the country,” he added.
