PARIS, April 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's new President Jalal Talabani has said foreign troops will be needed in his country at least until the end of 2006, French daily Liberation reported Wednesday.

    Iraq needs the allied troops to help maintain security until the Iraqi forces are capable of fighting terrorists and ensuring safety on their own, Talabani said in an interview with the paper.

    "When that is the case, we will ask them to leave. Without fixing a deadline, I estimate that that won't happen before the end of 2006," he said.

    Talabani, who was elected president by the new parliament last Thursday after lengthy negotiations between ethnic and tribal factions in the Iraqi parliament, also made clear that hard-core terrorists like members of Al-Qaida or followers of Jordanian Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi will not be granted amnesty.

    But for those Iraqis who fight against US troops in what they see as a resistance movement, the government "can facilitate their reintegration into the democratic game," he said.

    Talabani, who for many years led the Iraqi Kurdish minority's resistance to the government under Saddam Hussein, also ruled out the possibility of an independent state for the Kurds.

    Self-determination for Kurds "is not possible" and an independent Kurdistan "could not survive," he said.

    Talabani, leader of one of the two main Kurdish parties in Iraq,has repeatedly voiced his support for a continued US military presence in Iraq. He said on Sunday that even after US troops' withdrawal, Iraq will maintain a close security relationship with the United States. Enditem