Arabs want UN to set timetable for US withdrawal

CAIRO, March 4 (Reuters) The Arab League today said the United Nations Security Council should set a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Iraq.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa listed what the Cairo-based organisation believed were the key issues for easing the crisis in Iraq.

Apart from setting a timetable for U.S.-led coalition to leave, the list also includes a call for the fair distribution of wealth and the disbanding of all militias, which are demands that Arab leaders have repeated many times.

''I suggest that these foundations be included in a binding UN Security Council resolution that all Iraqi and other parties with present roles in Iraq should respect and follow,'' Moussa said in a speech to a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

The United States has rejected calls for setting a date for its troops, who make up the vast majority of multinational forces, to leave the country they invaded in 2003.

Arab governments have little influence in Baghdad. The Arab League representative in Iraq resigned in January because of his frustration over the situation in the country.

REUTERS SHB PM1927