Iraq prepared if US makes quick exit

Baghdad: Iraq is willing to have the US withdraw its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W Bush, the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said.

Spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh made the comment on Tuesday, a day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.

The new president said in his inaugural address on Tuesday that he would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people."

The government-owned newspaper Al Sabah reported yesterday that Iraqi authorities have drafted contingency plans in case Obama orders a 'sudden' troop withdrawal.

Al Dabbagh said Iraqis had been worried about a quick US departure.

But with the emphasis on a responsible withdrawal, Al Dabbagh said the Iraqi government was willing for the US to leave 'even before the end of 2011.' The Bush administration agreed in November to remove all US troops by the end of 2011.

US commanders are concerned that a rapid departure would threaten the fragile security established since 2007 after years of military and political setbacks.

The war has left many Iraqis conflicted - anxious to see the Americans leave but fearful of the future if they depart too soon. Distrust of rival sectarian and ethnic groups still runs deep, along with doubts about Iraq's political leadership.

Across this war-shattered country, many Iraqis watched the transfer of power in Washington on Arab satellite television stations.

Many of them expressed hope that the departure of the president who launched the Iraq war in 2003 would speed the return of peace.

"I think that the US image and policies will improve because Obama will try to avoid the awful mistakes committed by Bush," said Ripwar Karim, 26, a Kurdish merchant who watched the inauguration in a cafe in Sulaimaniyah.

Several others in the cafe cheered when Obama appeared on the TV screen but gave a 'thumbs-down' sign when the camera honed in on Bush. "Bush was as a nightmare on the chests of the Iraqis for the last eight years," said Ahmad Saleh, an engineer in Fallujah.

"Today we got rid of a problem that lasted eight years. Bush divided Iraq instead of uniting it. He proclaimed democracy but we haven't seen it."

US officials are carefully watching the January 31 provincial elections as a sign of whether the country is moving sectarian and ethnic conflicts from the battlefield to the ballot box.

Baghdad A plan is in motion to open all roads leading to the Green Zone, recently evacuated by US troops.

The Council of Iraqi Ministers, the Baghdad Provincial councils and the Iraqi army are coordinating efforts to reopen the area, which has been occupied by US troops since April 9, 2003. "After the completion of the security agreement, Al Zeitoun street coming from the Al Mansour district which runs towards the Green Zone and Republican Palace will open," Hussain Al Tahan, the governor of Baghdad told Gulf News.

Iraqis can't wait to see the Green Zone open.

"After more than five years of isolation, I'm looking forward to going back to places where I have many memories, like the Great Celebrations Plaza, that my family and I used to visit every Friday," Hadi Abdul Razzaq, an employee at the Iraqi Industry Ministry told Gulf News. For Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, the opening of the Green Zone scores him a political victory.