Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that the United States asked Iraq to keep its troops in the war-torn country until 2015, but negotiations set 2011 as a dead line, website of Talabani's party posted on Wednesday.
"It was an American proposal that its troops to stay in Iraq to2015 while the Iraqi one suggested 2010, then we agreed on the date 2011," Talabani said in an interview with the al-Hurra television from Washington late on Tuesday.
Talabani said that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki submitted the draft strategic deal between the two countries to the Iraqi political council, which includes top leaders of Iraqi government and heads of political blocs in the parliament, the website of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) quoted Talabani as saying.
Talabani noted that there is an article in the agreement stipulating the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, but he stressed that Iraq has the right to extend the presence of those troops in the country if necessary.
On Monday, Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders that U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have reached an agreement that foreign troops to withdraw from Iraq by 2011.
"There is an agreement between the two sides that there would be no foreign soldiers in the Iraqi by the end of 2011," Maliki said.
The U.S. immediately challenged Maliki's speech. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said any U.S. withdrawal must be linked to conditions on the ground in Iraq.
The U.S. side has been rejecting a specific timetable for pulling out troops, arguing that must depend on the situation on the ground in Iraq.
Source: Xinhua
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