Thousands of U.S. troops will remain in Iraqi cities after a deadline for combat soldiers to leave urban areas, the top U.S. commander said Saturday, as the prime minister dismissed suggestions that some troops might stay after most leave Iraq by 2012, according to AP. Those statements are likely to rekindle debate here about the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, which calls for U.S. combat troops to leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and withdraw entirely from Iraq by the end of 2011. The agreement was ratified by parliament last month and takes effect Jan. 1. But Iraqi voters must approve the deal in a referendum by the end of July. Suggestions of loopholes in the withdrawal timeline could be exploited by Iraqi politicians seeking to undermine Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ahead of the referendum. Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters that troops who serve in training and mentoring teams would not be included in the mandate to pull combat troops from the cities. «We believe that's part of our transition teams,» Odierno said at the U.S. Balad air base where he met with Defense Secretary Ro1ert Gates. He said the training and mentoring teams would stay at urban security stations to support Iraqi soldiers and police. A substantial drawdown is expected in the 149,000-strong U.S. force in the coming year. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the campaign to remove combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, leaving a smaller residual force through the end of 2011. But U.S. military officials are concerned about an upswing in violence in the runup to provincial elections Jan. 31 and parliamentary balloting by the end of 2009.
