No timetable for pullout needed, says Iraqi PM
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki today said there was no need to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from his country.
"We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can," Mr Maliki said while on a four-day trip to Japan.
"To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process."
What counts, he added, are "achievements on the ground".
Mr Maliki's visit comes two weeks after Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi was in Tokyo and said US-led coalition forces should not be withdrawn until Iraq's army was fully trained and ready to take over security.
US President George Bush and Congress have been wrestling over legislation that would set timelines for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
Bush asked for more than $100bn (€74.55bn) to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. Congress has approved the money, but the Senate added a provision calling for most US combat troops to be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.
The House version demands a September 2008 withdrawal. Bush has said he would veto any legislation that included such deadlines.
Mr Maliki also met with Emperor Akihito and thanked Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma for Japan's efforts in support of Iraq, and urged Japanese companies to come back to do business there.
Tokyo backed the US-led invasion of Iraq and provided troops for a non-combat, humanitarian mission in the southern city of Samawah.
It withdrew its ground forces in July 2006 but has since expanded Kuwait-based air force operations. Late last month, Japan's cabinet approved a two-year extension of the country's air mission in Iraq after it expires in July.
