CAIRO, Nov. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Visiting Iraqi national security adviser Moufaq al-Rabae said Sunday that he expects more than 30,000 members of the multinational force in his country will leave by mid 2006.

    "By mid next year (2006) more than 30,000 foreign troops will be withdrawn from Iraq," Rabae told reporters following a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

    "We hope some 60,000 members of the multinational forces willbe out of Iraq by the end of the next year (2006), bringing downto less than 100,000 the number of foreign forces in the country by the beginning of 2007," the Iraqi official said.

    Rabae, however, declined to give a specific timetable for thewithdrawal of foreign troops, reiterating a long-standing US-Iraqi postilion which links the departure of foreign forces with thematuring of Iraqi forces and the general security situation in thecountry.

    "The withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq depends by large onIraq's security conditions and the ability of Iraqi security forces to take over responsibilities from the withdrawing forces,"Rabae stressed.

    "Up to now, there is no specific timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq," he added.

    The UN Security Council last Tuesday unanimously adopted aresolution extending the mandate of the multinational force in Iraq until the end of next year.

    It also allows for a review of that mandate at any time, nolater than mid-June 2006, or for its termination, at the request of the Iraqi government.

    The multinational force currently comprises 157,000 US troopsand 22,000 troops from other countries, including about 8,500 fromBritain. Enditem