BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said Monday that an agreement on the future of U.S. forces in Iraq must include a firm withdrawal date and that Iraq wants them out of the country by the end of 2011.
It was the first time Maliki explicitly demanded a fixed deadline for the departure of all U.S. troops from Iraq. His words appeared to rule out the presence of any U.S. military advisors, special forces and air support after the withdrawal date.
The current draft of the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, details of which had previously been reported, outlines a conditional timeline of 2011 for U.S. combat troops to be out of Iraq. However, it leaves the door open for the U.S. military to stay on in a noncombat role.
The hardened position came after last week's visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Iraq, where she met with Maliki in hopes of clearing obstacles to an agreement. But officials familiar with the talks say that the prime minister remains undecided about whether he even wants a deal.
After their meeting, the agreement was supposed to be reviewed by Maliki, Iraq's three-member presidency council and Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani. However, the group has yet to convene to review the text.
Speaking before a gathering of Shiite Muslim tribesmen, Maliki said that negotiations with U.S. officials were still ongoing, but made it clear he was opposed to a timeline based on conditions on the ground. He said the only agreement acceptable to Iraq was one that guaranteed it "full sovereignty."
"There is . . . agreement between the two sides that there will not be any foreign soldiers in Iraq after 2011," he said.
In Crawford, Texas, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said: "Any decisions on troops will be based on the conditions on the ground in Iraq. That has always been our position. It continues to be our position.
"There is no agreement until there's an agreement signed," he added. "There are discussions that continue in Baghdad."
In July, Maliki told Der Spiegel magazine that he believed Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq in 16 months was a realistic time frame, with slight changes. After the remarks stirred controversy, Maliki's spokesman clarified that, if security continued to improve, the Iraqi government hoped all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2010.
