Jalal Talabani says US troops should stay few more years, invites France to help Iraq

The Iraqi president invited Paris to contribute to reconstruction of his country, still targeted by international terrorism.

Paris (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said US troops stationed in Iraq should stay for up to three more years to enable local authorities to build up their security forces. Talabani is in France for a week-long visit. He will meet the French President to ask him to get France involved in Iraq's reconstruction and training of Iraqi security forces.

Talabani told a conference his country was not immersed in a civil war and accused the media of talking only about the negative aspects of Iraq. However, he said "international terrorists" were still targeting Iraq and the country needed outside help to defeat them. "We need time. Not 20 years, but time," said the Iraqi president. "I personally can say that two to three years will be enough to build up our forces and say to our American friends 'Bye bye with thanks'."

In an interview that appeared in Figaro yesterday, Talabani expressed the same concerns, stressing that the withdrawal of multi-national forces should take place only "when Iraqi security forces are ready on their own to face the challenge of keeping order." He added: "In Iraq, there is a consensus among political forces to say that an immediate withdrawal would have catastrophic results for our country, as well as the Middle East and the entire world."

Asked to comment on France's opposition to the US-led war in Iraq, Talabani said: "The past is the past. I do not look back, but only ahead.... For us the war was not the best option. But it was the only one."

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