WASHINGTON, May 1: US and other foreign troops in Iraq will likely start pulling out in large numbers by the middle of next year, Iraq’s national security adviser said on Sunday. “I will be very surprised if they (US and other foreign troops) don’t think very seriously of starting pulling out probably by the end of the first half of next year,” said Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak Al-Rubaie in an interview with CNN’s.

When pressed on exact numbers expected to leave, Al-Rubaie said this depended on how quickly Iraqi troops could be trained and armed to take over. Twenty-five months after the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, the United States has 138,000 troops in Iraq battling a relentless insurgency and training Iraqi security forces. Al-Rubaie said the new Iraqi government was determined to quell violence in Iraq by the end of this year.—Reuters