Congress leaders for phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

Washington, Jan 31 (UNI) US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has described the situation in Iraq as catastrophic and stressed the need for a phased withdrawal of American troops from that country.

''All of us went there hopeful we would see something that would say the political and diplomatic initiatives that are necessary to help our military would be present. There was no evidence of a political and diplomatic initiative worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform,'' Ms Pelosi, who along with fellow lawmakers recently visited Iraq and Afghanistan, yesterday said.

Meanwhile, a report by a Washington DC-based think tank, Brookings Institution, said Iraq is rapidly descending into an all-out civil war and urges US officials to begin planning how to contain such a conflict ''to avoid a catastrophe in the Middle East''.

Such a war will lead to a humanitarian tragedy in Iraq and has the potential to destabilise neighbouring countries, the document said.

US President George W Bush's new strategy to send 21,500 additional troops to Iraq is ''a last-chance effort to quell the fighting and jumpstart a process of reconciliation and economic reconstruction,'' it said.

US and Iraqi officials need to prepare for an irrevocable slide into civil war, the report said, adding ''All-out civil war in Iraq would be a tragedy, but allowing the instability from an all-out civil war in Iraq to spread beyond it, could be a catastrophe''.

UNI