Deborah Haynes in Baghdad and Tim Reid in Washington
The Iraqi Government said yesterday that it had a vision for all US combat troops to leave the country by the end of 2010 — another apparent endorsement of Barack Obama's war strategy during his visit to Baghdad.
The sudden and unexpected Iraqi comments on the desire for a timetabled withdrawal, made by Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the Iraqi Government, was greeted with dismay by the White House and John McCain, Mr Obama's Republican rival, who opposes setting an exit date.
The call came after the Democratic presidential hopeful held talks with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister.
“We are talking about a real timetable which Iraqis set, up to the end of 2010,” Mr al-Dabbagh said — backing a timeframe that falls within the 16-month withdrawal plan proposed by Mr Obama.
He described such a deadline as an “Iraqi vision” but added that any withdrawal would depend on security conditions on the ground.
The remarks appeared to boost Mr Obama but left the White House and the McCain campaign with a dilemma. The Republican candidate's representatives found themselves in the extraordinary position of implying that the Iraqis did not really mean what they were saying.
Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to Mr McCain, said that the Republican had received personal assurances from Mr al-Maliki and Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President, earlier this year that they opposed a withdrawal deadline.
“It is the position of the Iraqi Government that withdrawal needs to be conditions-based,” Mr Scheunemann said.
On Sunday, after Mr al-Maliki was quoted in the German magazine Der Spiegel as backing Mr Obama's timetable, the White House forced Baghdad to rush out a statement claiming that the Prime Minister had been misquoted. It was Mr al-Dabbagh who issued that partial retraction.
His abrupt about-turn apparently indicates that the increasingly confident Iraqi Government has decided to exploit Mr Obama's visit to exert pressure on Washington, drawing more concessions during negotiations over the future status of US forces in the country.
On Friday President Bush spoke for the first time of a “time horizon” to withdraw US troops.
Mr Obama, seeking to bolster his foreign policy credentials, touched down in the southern Iraqi city of Basra yesterday morning to talk to British, US and Iraqi commanders before flying to Baghdad on the third leg of a tour through the Middle East and Europe.
He spent the weekend in Afghanistan, which he says will be his international priority if elected, rather than Iraq. He will address a huge crowd in Berlin on Thursday evening.
Looking serious, Mr Obama listened as Mr al-Maliki briefed him on security gains that had been made over the past year against al-Qaeda and Shia militias. “That's interesting,” he said, at the start of the hour-long discussion at Mr al-Maliki's residence in the green zone, which was also attended by the accompanying senators Jack Reed, a Democrat, and the Republican Chuck Hagel, as well as several other US and Iraqi officials.
Leaving the talks, Mr Obama paused to tell reporters: “We had a very constructive discussion”, before he climbed into a black Chevrolet with the words: “Warning — stay back 100 meters” printed in large white letters on the back.
Much has changed since Mr Obama's only previous visit to Iraq in January 2006, when sectarian bloodshed was rife. Violence is now at its lowest level in four years, thanks in part to a surge of 30,000 additional US troops in 2007 — a strategy that, as Mr McCain never tires of saying, Mr Obama opposed.
The extra combat power has largely been withdrawn and Washington looks set to announce further cuts in its 147,000-strong force this year.
Despite being the subject that has drawn most attention, Mr Obama and Mr al-Maliki did not talk about a specific timetable during their closed-door meeting, according to Mr al-Dabbagh.
He said that such discussions should only take place between Baghdad and the US Administration.
In a flurry of meetings in tightly secured locations, Mr Obama and his entourage at one point drove out of the green zone to pay President Talabani a quick visit.
Last night he was due to have dinner with General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, who is seen as the main architect of the surge policy. David Crocker, the US Ambassador, was also due to attend.
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