March 25, 2007	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 5, 1428

TOKYO: Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Saturday US-led coalition forces should be able to withdraw from his country in a year and half at the latest, when Iraqi troops should be ready to handle security on their own.

“We are looking for a systematic pullout and this should be tailor-made to the reform of our national armed forces,” Hashimi told a news conference.

“One and a half years, not more that,” he said, when asked how much longer Iraqi troops would need for training.

Hashemi, in Japan for a four-day official visit, has welcomed a timetable for a pullout of US forces but has said it must take place when the country’s troops are ready.

Iraqi forces lack professionalism and loyalty to the national government and are also too few in number, Hashemi said.

The Iraqi vice-president also criticised US politicians calling for an immediate withdrawal of coalition forces.

“Many of the Democrats now press the White House for a quick withdrawal from Iraq,” he said.

“If they withdraw tomorrow with a short notice, this is going to create a security vacuum in Iraq.”

The US House of Representatives voted on Friday to impose a Sept 1, 2008, deadline for withdrawing all American combat troops from Iraq.

The move prompted a quick promise for a veto from President George W. Bush, who has increased US troop strength to quell violence in Baghdad despite polls showing broad dissatisfaction with the war.—Reuters