Bush 'brainwashed' Blair on Iraq pullout: Iraq VP

New Yoprk, Dec 20: British Prime Minister Tony Blair was infavor of announcing a timetable to pull troops out of Iraq, but was''brainwashed'' out of it by President George W Bush, Iraq's vicepresident said yesterday.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi told New York's Council on ForeignRelations that when he spoke with Blair about three months ago, theBritish leader was supportive of his appeal for the United States andBritain to say when they would withdraw.

''I had just convinced him,'' Hashemi said. ''He promised he wasgoing to discuss the subject with President Bush, but at the end of theday, it's quite unfortunate, that your president (made) some sort ofbrainwashing of Mr Blair.'' But Hashemi also said any withdrawal oftroops should be conditional on US training of Iraq's security forces.

Blair, who visited Baghdad on Sunday, yesterday defended hisnation's close US alliance in response to an influential British thinktank's report that found the relationship has damaged Britain'scredibility in the West Asia.

Hashemi, in comments to Reuters after his Council on ForeignRelations address, said that Blair had been ''open-minded'' aboutannouncing a troop pullout.

''He promised me to take this message to Mr Bush, in fact, and he said 'I'm going to support that','' he said.

Hashemi said announcing a timetable for the withdrawal ofAmerican, British and other troops would help bring together warringSunni and Shi'ite factions.

''The problem is the timetable withdrawal. If you announce that tomorrow, the problem is going to be mitigated,'' he said.

''The American troops, the American administration should be committed with a timetable conditional withdrawal from Iraq.

This is very important.'' But Hashemi added that the United Stateshad made a commitment to Iraq, any therefore withdrawal of troopsshould be conditional on the training of Iraq's own security forces.

He blamed the sectarian tensions in his country on ''foreigninterference.'' The Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel of formersenior US officials, recommended this month that Bush withdraw most USforces from combat in Iraq by early 2008 and focus instead on trainingIraqi forces.

The report has increased pressure on Bush to find a way out of awar that started with the US-led invasion in March, 2003, and haskilled more than 2,900 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Reuters

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