Troops needed in Iraq 'until end of 2006'
13/04/2005 - 09:11:17Iraq’s new interim president, Jalal Talabani, says he expects foreign troops will be needed at least until the end of 2006 and that a proposed amnesty for terrorists should not extend to members of al-Qaida.
In an interview published today in the French daily Liberation, Talabani, a Kurdish leader, said self-determination for Kurds “is not possible” and that an independent Kurdistan “could not survive”.
Foreign troops should stay as long as Iraqi forces cannot ensure stability and eradicate terrorism, he said.
“When that is the case, we will ask them to leave. Without fixing a deadline, I estimate that that won’t happen before the end of 2006,” the newspaper quoted Talabani as saying.
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