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BloombergIraq's Al-Maliki Says No Need for Withdrawal Deadline (Update1)
By Stuart Biggs
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the U.S. shouldn't set a deadline for withdrawing its troops from his country because the handover of power to Iraqi security forces is already taking place as quickly as possible.
``There is no need for a timetable because we are working as fast as we can,'' al-Maliki said today at a press conference in Tokyo. ``What will govern the departure of troops will be victories achieved on the ground and not a timetable.''
The U.S. Senate last month passed a Democratic proposal calling for a timetable for withdrawal to be linked to funding for the military, a plan President George W. Bush opposes. Thousands of Shiites gathered in the city of Najaf yesterday for an anti-American rally to mark the fall of Saddam Hussein, responding to a call from the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
``To demand the departure of troops is a democratic right and a right that is being exercised within Iraq and in the U.S. Congress,'' al-Maliki said after two days of meetings with Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, aimed at encouraging investment in Iraqi reconstruction projects.
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