BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials stepped up pressure on the United States on Tuesday to agree to a specific timeline to withdraw American forces, a sign of the government’s growing confidence as violence falls.
Some type of agreement is required to keep American troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.
The Iraqi timeline proposal made public Tuesday appears to set an outer limit, requiring U.S. forces to fully withdraw five years after the Iraqis take the lead on security nationwide — though that precondition could itself take years.
“We will not accept any memorandum of understanding that doesn’t have specific dates to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq,” said Iraq’s national-security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, a day after the country’s prime minister first publicly said he expects some type of timeline.
