US troops to leave Iraq by 2011
2008-08-22 20:03
Washington - The US and Iraq have agreed that US combat troops would leave the Arab country entirely before the end of 2011, according to US media reports early on Friday.
The Washington Post, citing both US and Iraqi officials, reported that the two governments had settled on the 2011 date as part of a broad deal to replace a UN mandate for US forces that expires at the end of December. The withdrawal date is conditioned on security circumstances in Iraq at that time.
The New York Times posted its own report with similar details on its website.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Iraq on Thursday, holding several hours of direct talks on the broader military agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Additional issues remain to be resolved in the talks, which have dragged on for several weeks longer than first planned, as the increasingly emboldened Iraqi government's has increasingly asserted itself with the US.
The Post cited an Iraqi official as saying that a final deal was "very close".
Even after a 2011 withdrawal, tens of thousands of US troops would remain in Iraq in support tasks. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA