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July 20, 2008

US Military Official Says Setting Iraq Withdrawal Timetable 'Dangerous' 
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US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has suggested a plan
to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months 
The top U.S. military official says setting a fixed timetable for the
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq could create instability and
jeopardize political and economic progress in the country.In an
interview with "Fox News Sunday," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman,
Admiral Mike Mullen, said the consequences of rapidly withdrawing U.S.
combat troops could be very dangerous. He said he favors an assessment
of conditions on the ground as the best way to determine troop
levels.U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has suggested
a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months. Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki was quoted in a German news weekly Saturday as
saying he supports that plan.But Iraqi government spokesman Ali
al-Dabbagh Sunday said Mr. Maliki's views were "misunderstood and
mistranslated." He said they do not indicate support for any U.S.
presidential candidate. In violence today, Iraqi officials said U.S.
forces shot and killed two relativ!
 es of the governor of Iraq's northern Salahuddin province during a raid
in the town of Beiji. The U.S. military said its troops were acting in
self-defense when they shot two armed men who were later determined to
be related to the governor.Separately, militants in Iraq who claim to
have kidnapped five Britons have released a video that says one of the
hostages has committed suicide.The British newspaper "The Sunday Times"
says its office in Baghdad received the video from a Shi'ite militant
group.According to the paper, the militants say the hostage committed
suicide in May, blaming the "procrastination and lack of seriousness" on
the part of the British government to gain the group's release.British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the video is a very distressing
development.The hostages, a British computer expert and his four
bodyguards, were abducted in May of last year during a visit to an Iraqi
finance ministry office.Some information for this report was provided
by!
  AFP, AP and Reuters.


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