BAGHDAD, Jan 15 (KUNA) — A spokesman for the Iraqi government said here on Tuesday that visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke of the potential withdrawal of 30,000 US soldiers from Iraq this year.
Ali Al-Dabagh added that Rice’s meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in Baghdad was “positive.” “Rice has expressed relief over the progress of the political process in Iraq and the performance of the Iraqi Parliament, especially after the passing of the accountability and justice law,” Al-Dabagh told reporters following the meeting.
He noted that Rice had also hinted to the possibility that 30,000 out of the 160,000 US soldiers could be withdrawn from Iraq, mostly from the extra troops US President George W. Bush had sent to support the security plan in Baghdad.
According to Al-Dabagh, Rice revealed to the Iraqi premier that Bush had spoken to the Arab leaders during his tour in the region about support for the Iraqi government.
Rice and Al-Maliki also discussed the Declaration of Principles for a long-term relationship of cooperation and friendship between Iraq and the US.