By Xinhua,
Washington : The United States said Monday that its talks with Iraq on future U.S.-Iraq relations will not include a date for the U.S. troops to withdraw from the Middle East country.
“It is important to understand that these are not talks on a hard date for a withdrawal,” White House spokesman Scot Stanzel said.
“As (U.S.) Ambassador (Ryan) Crocker has said, we are looking at conditions, and not calendars — and both sides are in agreement on this point,” Stanzel said.
However, Stanzel said the two sides may discuss “time frames” for the U.S. withdrawal.
According to media reports, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Monday that Iraq was seeking a timetable of U.S. troops withdrawal as part of its negotiations with the United States on the status of U.S. forces in Iraq beyond 2008.
U.S. President George W. Bush has repeatedly said that there is no clear timetable for the U.S. troops to withdraw out of Iraq.