Iraq demands pullout timetable

The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said on Monday he is negotiating a deal with Washington that will for the first time set a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a framework for a US troop presence into next year. The White House, however, said no ‘hard date’ for the withdrawal of US forces was contemplated and US officials suggested that any timetable would be dependent on conditions on the ground. Nevertheless, it was the first time that Baghdad’s Shia-led government has made a timetable for a US pullout a condition for a promised new agreement with the United States for a troop presence into 2009. ‘The direction we are taking is to have a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or to have a timetable for their withdrawal,’ a statement from Maliki’s office quoted him as telling Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates. ‘The negotiations are still continuing with the American side, but in any case the basis for the agreement will be respect for the sovereignty of Iraq,’ he added. The US president, George W Bush, has repeatedly refused to set a timetable for a US withdrawal, and administration officials linked any change to conditions on the ground. ‘It is important to understand that these are not talks on a hard date for a withdrawal,’ said White House spokesman Scott Stanzell.