Iraq's hardening demand for a pullout deadline for US troops on Tuesday reignited the sharp campaign quarrel over the war between White House rivals John McCain and Barack Obama.
Republican hopeful McCain insisted that any US troop withdrawals must be dictated by security conditions in Iraq, after Obama said he was encouraged the Iraqi government now shared his desire to set a timetable for withdrawals.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's comment on Monday that Iraq was seeking such an arrangement in talks with Washington on the future US force structure in the country reverberated across the presidential campaign.
Iraq hardened its position on Tuesday, saying it would reject any security pact with Washington unless it set a date for the pullout of US-led foreign soldiers -- a condition turned down by President George W. Bush.
But McCain, who has made staunch support for the US troop 'surge' escalation strategy a centerpiece of his campaign, said that recent security gains should not be put at risk by an artificial timetable.
"The Iraqis have made it very clear, including the meetings I had with the president and foreign minister of Iraq, that it is based on conditions on the ground," McCain said in an interview with MSNBC.
"I have always said we will come home with honor and with victory and not through a set timetable," he said, adding that Iraqis would act in their national interest and the United States would act in its own interests.
"We will withdraw, but ... the victory we have achieved so far is fragile and (the redeployment) has to be dictated by events and on the ground," McCain said, mirroring the Pentagon's line on the issue.
Obama and McCain have been waging a fierce political battle over their plans for US policy in Iraq, an issue that looks set to dominate the presidency of whichever of them emerges triumphant from November's general election.
On Monday, Obama cast Maliki's remarks as in line with his own policy on Iraq, which McCain has branded a strategy for defeat.
"I think that his statement is consistent with my view about how withdrawals should proceed," the Illinois senator told reporters in St. Louis, Missouri.
"I think it's encouraging ... that the prime minister himself now acknowledges that in cooperation with Iraq, it's time for American forces to start sending out a timeframe for the withdrawal.
"I hope that this administration as well as John McCain is listening to what Prime Minister Al-Maliki has to say."
Maliki told Arab ambassadors in Abu Dhabi on Monday he was pressing for such a timetable in negotiations with Washington on an agreement on the status of US forces in Iraq beyond 2008.
On Tuesday, national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie stiffened the Iraq stand, while talking to reporters in the holy city of Najaf.
"We will not accept any memorandum of understanding if it does not give a specific date for a complete withdrawal of foreign troops," he said.
Rubaie said it was proving "very difficult" to set such a date.
Baghdad and Washington are negotiating a deal that would see the presence of US-led forces in Iraq beyond 2008 when the United Nations mandate which provides the legal basis for a foreign troop presence in Iraq expires.
The security pact, also known as Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), has to be signed by July 31 according to a previous agreement between Bush and Maliki.
On Monday, the White House reacted to Maliki's comments by saying it was not negotiating a "hard date" for a US withdrawal from Iraq but it did not rule out discussions on "time-frames" with Baghdad.
