Troops to leave Iraq 'in months'

Last updated at 13:04 25 May 2004


British and coalition troops will leave Iraq 'in months not years' an Iraqi minister has said after meeting with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

Iraq's defence minister Ali Alawi told reporters that he expected an indigenous Iraqi security force to be in place by the end of the year, replacing the multinational force.

Speaking at his monthly press conference, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Iraqis will have the veto over foreign troops in their country after handover on June 11.

He said Britain and Iraq are in agreement that troops must stay until Iraqi security forces are ready to take over.

Mr Blair said: "Our troops should only remain as long as it is necessary for them to remain to provide the security that the Iraqis need in order to make sure the political transition to democracy works."

"The people who decide whether the troops stay or not will be the Iraqi government," he said.

"They will be the people then, the Iraqis themselves, with the full sovereign right of political control."

"We don't want to stay a moment longer than necessary," he said.

UN proposal 'below expectations'

Meanwhile, the head of the Iraqi Governing Council has expressed disappointment with the UN draft proposal on the handover of sovereignty to Iraq. The key UN draft resolution was said to "fall below expectations".

The future rule of a multinational force following the planned handover of power to an interim Iraqi government on June 30 has been a controversial one.

The new resolution tabled by the UK and US authorised the continued presence of a multinational force if the interim sovereign Iraqi government wanted one.

Last night, the US President tried to convince Americans that he has a workable plan for Iraq ahead of elections in November.

He warned that the violence in Iraq may get worse in the short term, with just five weeks to go before the hand-over of power to a caretaker Iraqi government.

Bush also said the infamous Abu Ghraib jail will be demolished.

The speech was met with scepticism by Iraqis, as they expressed little faith in American promises after months of occupation which many said had delivered only violence, a lack of basic services and a scandal over the inhumane treatment of prisoners by the US military.

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