Iraq troop withdrawal to be speeded up

Published on Monday 26 January 2009 21:05

NOURI al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has said he expects the United States to withdraw troops faster than a three-year timescale laid down in a recent security agreement. As a result, the government must beef up Iraqi security forces, he said.

Barack Obama, the US president, campaigned on a pledge to remove all combat troops within 16 months.