Special report:
Tension escalates in
Iraq
 |
|
"I personally think that two or three
years would be enough to rebuild our forces and to say 'bye bye and thank
you' to our friends," said the president, who arrived in Paris late
Wednesday for a three-day official visit. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Photo Gallery
>>> |
PARIS,
Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iraqi President Jala Talabani said here on Thursday
that he could not envisage the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq for at
least two or three years.
Iraq needed time, "some years, not 30 years," for
Iraqi forces to be capable of ensuring the security in Iraq, Talabani told a
conference in the French Institute of International Relations in Paris on
Thursday.
"I personally think that two or three years would be
enough to rebuild our forces and to say 'bye bye and thank you' to our friends,"
said the president, who arrived in Paris late Wednesday for a three-day official
visit.
Talabani's comments came after the remarks by the
U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, that the Iraqi armed forces
would be able to safeguard the country within 12 to 18 months.
Talabani also expressed his wish to turn over a page
of France's disagreement with the U.S.-led war which broke out in 2003 and
toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.
"The goal of this visit is to endow a new momentum in
the bilateral relations," Talabani said, appealing to French people to look at
his country with "a new eye."
Talabani was set to meet with French President
Jacques Chirac later in the day.
Chirac urges foreign troops'
withdrawal from Iraq
PARIS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- French President Jacques
Chirac on Thursday told his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani that it was
important to fix a prospect of foreign forces' withdrawal from Iraq, the French
leader's spokesman Jerome Bonnafont told the press.
"Regarding the international troop's presence in
Iraq, he (President Chirac) said that in the eyes of France, it is important to
fix a prospect of withdrawal," Bonnafont said. Full story>>
Chirac voices support for Iraq's
national reconciliation efforts
PARIS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- French President Jacques
Chirac expressed to his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani France's support for
Iraq's national reconciliation and reconstruction, the French Presidential
office announced on Thursday after the one-hour talk between the two presidents.
Chirac confirmed that "in this difficult period for
Iraq, France gives its support for the politics of national reconciliation and
the inclusive dialogue, which are in favor of Iraq's unity and reconstruction,"
Presidential office spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. Full
story>>
