US troops can withdraw in 18 months: Iraq VP

Tokyo, Mar 24: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi says US-led coalition forces should be able to withdraw from his country in a year and half at the latest, a Japanese newspaper reported today.

''Personally, I think Iraqi security forces will complete reforms and training in a year or a year and a half,'' Hashemi was quoted as saying in an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun daily.

''After that, the coalition troops will no longer be needed.'' Hashemi, in Japan for a four-day official visit, has welcomed a timetable for a pullout of US forces but has said it must take place after his national troops were ready to handle security on their own.

His comments come after the US House of Representatives voted yesterday to impose a September 1, 2008 deadline for withdrawing all American combat troops from Iraq.

The move prompted a quick promise for a veto from President George W Bush, who has increased US troop strength to quell violence in Baghdad despite polls showing broad dissatisfaction with the war.

The Mainichi newspaper also quoted Hashemi as saying public safety in Iraq had improved considerably but that more time was needed to determine whether sectarian confrontation had ended.

Reuters