U.S. plans for big troop cuts in Iraq: paper

The top U.S. commander in Iraq has drafted a plan that projects big troop cuts in Iraq starting from September, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

The number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq is projected to fall to five or six from the current level of 14, and the number of bases in Iraq would also decline from the current 69 to 11 by the end of 2007, the Times said, citing U.S. officials with knowledge of a classified Pentagon briefing this week by Gen. George Casey.

The officials meanwhile stressed that "any withdrawals would depend on continued progress, including the development of competent Iraqi security forces, a reduction in Sunni Arab hostility toward the new Iraqi government and the assumption that the insurgency will not expand beyond Iraq's six central provinces," the Times said on its website.

The planned reductions are greater than many had expected.

Some 127,000 American troops are serving in Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush has refused to draw a timetable for troops withdrawal up to now.

Source: Xinhua