Up to 20,000 US troops could leave Iraq in March - general
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-22 08:43

US troops may start withdrawing from Iraq in March, a US general said, as the new US ambassador to the war-torn country pledged to help Iraqis crush a ruthless insurgency.

As many as four or five brigades (up to 20,000 people) could leave if the country's ethnic groups agree on a constitution and elect a government that has broad support, Lieutenant General John Vines said in Washington via video link from Iraq.

"I suspect we will probably draw down capability after the election, because Iraqi security forces are more capable," Vines said. He referred to planned elections at the end of this year that would follow hoped-for approval of a new constitution in October.

The US military will probably begin withdrawing some forces from Iraq by March, a top US commander said. Lieutenant General John Vines, seen here in 2003, said any drawdown would depend on conditions on the ground. [AFP/File]

In Britain, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told lawmakers the US-led coalition did not have an "open-ended" commitment to staying in the country.

He added that "violence is at an unacceptable level, higher than was anticipated."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Baghdad would not be surprised and would understand if the United States began to start withdrawing troops next year.

"I would not be surprised ... If there would be some withdrawal, let's say early 2006, I think it would be understandable," he said in Brussels.

"The more our forces assume responsibility, the less role the multinational force will have in Iraq," he said.

In Baghdad, the new US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad vowed to work with Iraqis to crush the tenacious insurgents.

"I will work with Iraqis to break the back of the insurgency," Khalilzad said after presenting his credentials to President Jalal Talabani in the heavily fortified Green Zone where most American and Iraqi officials live.

"Foreign terrorists and hardline Baathists want Iraq to be in a civil war," he told reporters, referring to members of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

Insurgents believed to be led by Sunni Arabs and Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi kill dozens of Iraqis almost daily, targeting members of the country's security forces in particular.

Zebari, in Brussels on the eve of an international conference on rebuilding Iraq, warned NATO that the "consequences of failure" could resonate beyond the country's borders.

"That's why the stakes are high. That's why we need the contributions and help of many countries," Zebari told NATO ambassadors.

The Islamic Development Bank said it will make a 500-million-dollar loan, Kuwait offered a grant of 60 million dollars and the Slovakian government decided to write off Iraq's 1.12-million-dollar (900 thousand euros) debt.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States urged Iraq's neighbours to give more debt relief to the country but held out little hope of any breakthrough at the conference.

She said the meeting of leaders from more than 80 countries and organisations was an opportunity to build "a new international partnership for Iraq" as it emerges from the US occupation.

Meanwhile, US and Iraqi forces wound up the five-day Operation Spear in and around the western city of Karabilah, reporting a final toll of 47 insurgents killed and one detained, a military statement said.

The operation was one of two launched last week in lawless Al-Anbar province, which covers most of western Iraq, and took the lives of five US troops.

"A total of 17 car bombs were located, including a tractor trailer, a dump truck and van rigged with explosives, which were destroyed in place by a Marine tank unit," the US military said, adding that four hostages had also been freed.

Karabilah was said to be a way station for insurgents and weapons smuggled in from Syria.

Another 15 were killed in Operation Dagger near Lake Tharthar, southeast of the Iraq-Syria border.

Insurgent violence eased somewhat Tuesday, but attackers nonetheless killed at least 11 people, including three police, in attacks north of Baghdad.

In the capital itself, the Iraqi court that is to try ousted leader Saddam Hussein and his aides questioned jailed former deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz, his lawyer said.

Meanwhile, the Swedish foreign ministry announced that a Swedish man had been kidnapped and held hostage in Iraq for more than two months before being released three weeks ago.

The man, named in the Swedish media as 63-year-old Ulf Hjertstroem, told a newspaper he had been kidnapped in Baghdad on March 25 and held for ransom under dreadful conditions until his May 30 release.

During his ordeal he was allegedly forced to watch other prisoners being killed and subjected to mock executions himself.