| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Talabani estimates foreign troops out of Iraq by 2006 |
| 2005-04-14 |
| Iraq's new interim president, Jalal Talabani, says he expects foreign troops will be needed at least until the end of 2006 and that a proposed amnesty for terrorists should not extend to members of Al Qaeda. In an interview published on Wednesday in the French daily Liberation, Talabani, a Kurdish leader, said self-determination for Kurds "is not possible" and that an independent Kurdistan "could not survive." Foreign troops should stay as long as Iraqi forces cannot ensure stability and eradicate terrorism, he said. "When that is the case, we will ask them to leave. Without fixing a deadline, I estimate that that won't happen before the end of 2006," the newspaper quoted Talabani as saying. Asked about the possibility of an amnesty for terrorists in Iraq, Talabani said, "not for all." He made a distinction between homegrown Iraqi insurgents and others. "Some Iraqis believe that via the so-called resistance they can force the Americans to leave Iraq and they understand today that that is not possible. We can facilitate their reintegration into the democratic game," he was quoted as saying. "But criminals of Al Qaeda or (Jordanian militant Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi, who are pursuing a war of extermination against Shiites and Kurds, must be eradicated." Talabani said his presidential post is not just honorific and that his group aims to play a key role in drafting a constitution. "I can use my right of veto and the Kurdish bloc has 77 lawmakers. So we will play a very important role in this process," he said. "We will oppose everything that contains the seed of a return to dictatorship. We ask for a federal system, founded on democracy and equality." Talabani also said that they would not accept Islam being made the cornerstone of law in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |