Fed: US will have fewer troops in Iraq by year's end: Downer

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2006
Fed: US will have fewer troops in Iraq by year's end: Downer

CANBERRA, April 24 AAP - The US will have fewer troops in Iraq by the end of the year,
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says.

But the future of Australia's troop commitment depends on how quickly the Iraqi army
can be trained to handle security there.

"... I think by the end of the year ... there'll be fewer American troops in Iraq than
there are now," Mr Downer told ABC Radio, adding that could change if unforeseen circumstances
arose.

"(But) I wouldn't want to overstate that. There'll still be a large number there.

"In our case ... withdrawal is conditions-based, and not time-based.

"That is, the more that the Iraqis can handle the security situation, the less they'll
need our support.

"The capacity of the Iraqis to handle the security situation will depend very much
on the speed at which we can set up a trained, really efficient Iraqi army."

Mr Downer also welcomed the formal invitation to Jawad al-Maliki to form a government
in Iraq, ending a political deadlock there.

"It will take time for the prime minister to put his government together. I hope that
time frame will be met," Mr Downer said.

"But, in any case, it needs to be a broadly-based government, a government of national unity."

Mr Downer said terrorists would keep up their efforts to undermine democracy in Iraq.

"I think the terrorists will continue to try to destroy the democracy which has been
embraced by a massively overwhelming majority of Iraqis," he said.

"They want to destroy democracy in Iraq and they want to destroy freedom in Iraq and
they will continue to fight some time yet in order to achieve that.

"The only way they will win is if the majority of the Iraqis themselves and we, their
supporters, are defeatist about it, and just give up."

AAP dep/it/nf

KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST DOWNER

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