Deadline nears, Iraqi worries

BAGHDAD — Thirty days before the deadline to withdraw U.S. combat forces from Iraq’s urban areas, it is still unknown how many troops will remain in cities as commanders determine their new roles, Army Brig. Gen. Keith Walker, commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, said Sunday.

The U.S. military has repeatedly said it will abide by the requirements of an U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, but has released little publicly about how it will meet the June 30 deadline or what the new distribution of its forces in Iraq will look like.

Under the security pact, American troops who train and advise Iraq’s security forces will stay in the cities. Walker said commanders were working to determine the number of additional forces, including some combat troops, that would be added to training teams working in Iraq’s urban areas.

The security agreement also calls for all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

With the clock ticking, it remains unclear how and when American troops will leave cities where insurgents continue to battle U.S. and Iraqi forces.

But Walker added that "all combat troops will be out of the cities unless there is a specific invitation from the government of Iraq.”

The Iraqi government has said the deadline was not extendable.



by the associated press