Foreign troops except for those of the United States will be out of Iraq by the end of July, the head of the Iraqi parliament's foreign affairs committee said on Tuesday. -- PHOTO: AFP
BAGHDAD - ALL foreign troops except for those of the United States will be out of Iraq by the end of July, the head of the Iraqi parliament's foreign affairs committee said on Tuesday.
'The cabinet has approved draft legislation on the withdrawal of the non-US forces in the coalition. It sets a timetable for a withdrawal of between five and seven months from Jan 1,' Hamman Hammudi told reporters.
The bill, which still has to be passed by parliament, will mainly affect the roughly 4,000 British troops deployed at Basra air base in the south.
London newspapers have reported that Britain intends to begin its withdrawal in March with most troops out by June, although defence officials insist that the precise timetable will depend on the conditions on the ground at the time. -- AFP
