Related: Chalabi: US troops may leave Iraq in 2006

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (file photo)

    ROME, Nov. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said here Saturday he considered it possible to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of foreign troops from his country by the end of 2006.

    Iraqi police and soldiers were being trained and would be able to maintain order in the country themselves, creating conditions for foreign troops to leave, said Talabani, who is on a week-long visit to Italy.

    "If things continue as they are I think by the end of 2006 we can discuss the end of the presence of foreign troops," the Iraqi president told reporters.

    An insurgency has claimed the lives of thousands of people since the US-led Iraq war started in March 2003.

    Referring to Iraqi elections to be held in April next year, Talabani, an Iraqi Kurd, said he expected no party would gain an absolute majority.

    Shi'ite coalition would be the strongest force and Kurdistan Alliance would finish the second, Talabani predicted. Enditem