Iraq to reject US deal without pullout timetable

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq will reject any security pact with the United States unless it contains a specific timetable for the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces, the national security advisor said on Tuesday.

"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops," Muwaffaq al-Rubaie told reporters in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told Arab ambassadors in Abu Dhabi that he was seeking a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops as part of a security agreement with Washington.

It was the first time Baghdad's Shiite-led government has demanded such a schedule for a troop withdrawal.

© 2008 AFP