Pelosi, Maliki Discuss Timing of Drawdown

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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), visiting Baghdad on Friday in her new capacity as House speaker, that he would like to see 50,000 U.S. troops leave by the end of the year, Iraqi officials said.

Pelosi's primary concern in meeting Maliki appeared to be to determine how soon he thought the United States could withdraw its soldiers from Iraq, said Ali Dabbagh, the prime minister's spokesman.

The U.S. military, reversing earlier statements, acknowledged Friday that four of five soldiers killed last Saturday had been abducted before being executed. The abductions followed a brazen attack on a government building in the southern city of Karbala.

Military officials earlier this week had discouraged The Washington Post from reporting an account of the abductions, saying it was inaccurate. The account had been provided by Iraqi officials and witnesses.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012600389.html