Iraq fears early troop pullout
2008-11-22 22:26
Baghdad - Iraq's defence minister on
Saturday warned of the dangers of withdrawing US forces before
the end of 2011, a date set with Washington in a security pact
opposed by some lawmakers.
Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim said withdrawing
before that date would threaten Iraq's oil exports, enable
neighbouring countries to encroach on Iraqi territory and give
free reign to foreign spies.
"The period of the timetabled withdrawal gives us enough
time to complete our abilities - training, combat and technical
- and secures us great support," Jassim told a news conference
in Baghdad.
His comments came a day after thousands of followers of
anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protested in
Baghdad against the pact, which cabinet approved on Sunday.
The speaker of Iraq's parliament, Mahmoud Mashhadani, said
the house would vote on the pact on Wednesday, although some
lawmakers said it could be delayed until after a holiday recess
which begins next week.
"The door for discussions on the pact was closed today. The
vote will take place next Wednesday," Mashhadani told Reuters.
While Sadr's followers oppose the pact outright and members
of his bloc in parliament have disrupted parliamentary debates
on it, other groups have reservations about some details.
"Successive governments have not succeeded in disarming the
heavy and medium weapons of, and I am not naming any names, the
armed blocs and armed wings," he added, justifying the pact's
2011 withdrawal date.
Sadr's supporters have staged several violent uprisings
since 2003 and the government has accused him of failing to
disband his Mehdi Army militia, despite a ceasefire.
The security pact governs the US troop presence in Iraq
and will replace a United Nations mandate which expires at the
end of the year. Iraqi politicians are under pressure to pass
the deal to avoid an extension of the mandate.
The defence minister said Iraq's navy was not ready to
assume responsibility from US-led forces for protecting
offshore terminals that export the country's crude.
"If we evict them in an unplanned or sudden way, then ...
piracy will begin here ... the ability to export will be hugely
threatened," he said.
Some countries shell certain areas of Iraq daily, he said,
without naming any, and the presence of US forces deters them
from expanding their operations. Turkey frequently shells
northern Iraq in its hunt for Kurdish separatist rebels.