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December 24, 2008

Iraq Sets July 2009 Withdrawal Date for Non-US Troops
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In Iraq, the parliament has approved a measure setting a timeline for
the withdrawal of non-US troops. The so-called “coalition of the
willing” will officially come to an end next July, when British troops
and the other remaining foreign contingents are forced to leave. Iraq’s
deputy parliamentary speaker announced the measure’s approval.

Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya: “Decision No. 2008, the parliament has decided
in its thirty-seventh session, which is held on December 23rd, 2008,
first, authorizing the government to take all necessary steps to achieve
the following: one, full pullout of the United Kingdom, northern
Ireland, Australia, Romania, Estonia, El Salvador and NATO troops from
Iraq by July 31st, 2009.”

In other Iraq news, police have released twenty-four Interior Ministry
officials who were swept up in a government raid last week. The suspects
had been accused of seeking to rebuild Saddam Hussein’s Baathist
movement.



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