Chirac wants "perspective" of withdrawal from Iraq

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 2, 2006

Paris- It is important to fix a perspective for the retreat of foreign troops from Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac was quoted as telling his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani, on Thursday in Paris. "Regarding the presence of the international force (in Iraq), he said that in French eyes it was important to fix a perspective of withdrawal," Chirac's spokesman, Jerome Bonnafont, said after the French president's talks with Talabani.

Earlier Thursday, Talabani said that he believed a withdrawal of US and other foreign forces from his country was foreseeable in "two to three years."

"We think we need time, several years, but not 30 years," Talabani said during an address at the French Institute of International Relations.

"I personally think that two or three years would be enough to rebuild our forces and tell our friends, 'Bye-bye and thank you'," he added.

In an interview published earlier in the week in the daily Le Figaro, Talabani said the immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq would have "catastrophic" consequences.

Chirac was also quoted as telling Talabani that Paris supported Iraq's policy of national reconciliation. The Iraqi president is on his first official visit to France.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency