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US-Led Troops in Iraq Part of Problem - UK's Straw
Reuters
Tuesday 02 August 2005
London - The presence of British and U.S. troops in
Iraq is fuelling the Sunni-led insurgency which has killed hundreds of
people, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in comments published
on Tuesday.
In an interview with Britain's Financial Times newspaper, Straw said it
was crucial Iraq's draft constitution was ready by a mid-August deadline
to pave the way for a troop withdrawal.
"The more certainty you have on that (the constitution), the more you
can have a programme for the draw-down of troops which is important for
the Iraqis," he said.
"Because -- unlike in Afghanistan -- although we are part of the
security solution there, we are also part of the problem."
The Iraqi panel drawing up the constitution has come under intense U.S.
pressure to submit a draft on time.
The Iraqi government and its U.S. backers see the constitution as a key
part of any democratic process and hope it can help defuse the
two-year-old insurgency and allow U.S. and British troops to withdraw
sooner.
U.S. General George Casey said last month he expected troop cuts after a
referendum on a new constitution due in October and an election for a
new leader in December.
Casey made a similar prediction earlier this year, but U.S. officials
have avoided suggesting a timetable since violence worsened sharply
after the new government took power in April.
Britain, Washington's main ally in the 2003 war to topple former
President Saddam Hussein, has about 8,500 troops in Iraq, based mainly
in the south.
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