Obama to announce Iraq troop pullout by end-2011

[1]

President Barack Obama will announce on Friday that he will withdraw all US forces from Iraq by the end of the year, more than eight years after the US invasion, a US official said.

Obama was to make a statement at 1645 GMT in the White House after holding a secure video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the apparent failure of talks with Iraq on extending a small US troop presence.

"Today the president will announce that we will fulfill our commitment and complete the drawdown of US troops from Iraq by the end of the year," a White House official said.

"This will allow us to say definitively that the Iraq war is over, and that the partnership between the US and Iraq will be a normal one between two sovereign nations.

"During their conversation, President Obama and Prime Minister Maliki strongly agreed that this is the best way forward for both countries."

Talks on extending the US troop presence appear to have foundered over the question of legal immunity for US troops.

The 39,000 remaining US troops in Iraq must withdraw by the end of the year under a bilateral security accord, which remains in force if no post-2011 deal is agreed.

US commanders had hoped to keep a small contingent of American troops on the ground in Iraq after 2011 to help train Baghdad's forces, bolster the country's fledgling air and naval defenses as well as counter the influence of neighboring Iran.

The discussions with Iraq were focused on a 'limited' training mission for US troops that would go beyond the standard security cooperation efforts handled by American embassies in other capitals, officials said.