U.S. army says troops to leave cities on schedule

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, General Keith Walker, on Sunday said that all combat troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of next month, adding that advisory teams will remain to train Iraqi forces. “All U.S. combat troops will leave Iraqi cities and towns on June 30, in accordance with the U.S. forces agreement signed between the Iraqi and U.S. governments,” Walker said in a press conference held in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which was attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. The commander noted that the Iraqi army has taken control of security in 100 camps thus far. In response to a question posed by an IraqiNews.com news agency correspondent about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security, Walker said that the operations conducted by the Iraqi security forces have boosted their performance capacity and reduced attacks to less than 100 a month, compared to 900 a week in 2007 and 2008. On December 13, 2008, the Iraqi government signed a long-term agreement with the United States, known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA) to regulate the presence and withdrawal of foreign troops in the country after 2008. Under the agreement, a complete troop withdrawal from Iraq is supposed to take place by the end of 2011. SS (S) 1