Iraq wants US forces to stay next year

Baghdad: Iraq plans to ask the UNSC to extend the mandate governing the presence of US-led forces in Iraq for another year, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Monday.

"The presence of the multinational force is indispensable for the security and stability of Iraq and of the region at the moment," Zebari said in an interview.

"At the same time, the Iraqi government is willing to take more security responsibilities from these forces to do its part."

The existing UN mandate expires on December 31 and Zebari said Iraq would request its extension in the next month or so. He denied any real breach with Washington despite a public spat over the past week over when Iraq could take control of its own security and the focus of efforts to end the bloodshed.

"We have a shared objective to defeat terrorism, to stabilise the situation, to build a democratic, federal, united, strong Iraq," Zebari said. "There is no rift whatsoever between Baghdad and Washington on these issues." Zebari also said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem had agreed to visit Baghdad, possibly in November.

It would be the first ministerial visit from Iraq's neighbour and long-time rival in the region since the US-led invasion in 2003. Iraq and the US accuse both Syria and Iran of undermining the Iraqi government, a Shi'ite-led unity coalition with Sunnis and Kurds, through support for insurgents, al-Qaeda operatives and Shi'ite militias.

"We need to engage our neighbours positively and this would be an acid test in my view for their attitude," Zebari said. "Having a direct, formal channel of communication would be helpful. I am optimistic that the visit will happen."

Threat from "Saddamists"

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last week that Iraq could take over its own security in about six months if its police and soldiers had more training, better weapons and a greater say over their own movements and operations.

That is half the time US generals have estimated the 140,000 American troops can start leaving. Maliki and President George W Bush, who faces growing public dismay over his Iraq policy ahead of congressional elections next week, announced agreement on Saturday to speed up the training of Iraqi forces.

Zebari said the transfer of responsibility would depend on conditions on the ground but noted that UN Resolution 1637, which provides the foreign troop mandate, allowed for a mid-year review.

"With each six months there is a review to reconsider this presence, based on the opinion of the Iraqi government. So there is an embedded timeline if the situation is conducive," he said.

The word "timeline" was at the heart of last week's tensions between Baghdad and Washington, with Maliki insisting that a series of political and security steps to restore stability to Iraq could not be imposed from outside.

US officials have pressed Maliki to disarm Shi'ite militias blamed for a surge in sectarian killings since February, but whose political leaders underpin his majority.