US to press Iraq on larger security role: Report

New York, Oct 22: The Bush administration is drafting a timetable that includes specific milestones for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, The New York Times reported in today's editions.

Citing senior US officials, the Times said details of the plan, to be presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki before the end of the year and carried out over the next year and beyond, were still being worked out.

''We're trying to come up with ways to get the Iraqis to step up to the plate, to push them along, because the time is coming,'' the paper quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying. ''We can't be there forever.'' Officials said that for the first time Iraq would likely be asked to agree to a schedule of specific milestones, like disarming sectarian militias, and to a broad set of other political, economic and military benchmarks intended to stabilize the country, according to the paper.

The Times said the blueprint was being formulated by General George Casey and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the top US military and civilian officials in Iraq, along with unnamed Pentagon officials.

And while the administration will not threaten to withdraw US troops, several officials told the Times it would consider changing military strategy or taking other measures if Iraq balked at adopting it or failed to meet critical benchmarks.

The Times cited a senior Pentagon official involved in drafting the blueprint as saying Iraqi officials were being consulted on the plan and would be asked to sign off on the milestones before year's end.

''If the Iraqis fail to come back to us on this, we would have to conduct a reassessment'' of U.S. strategy, it cited the official as saying.

Reuters