13 September 2008: Xinhua
GENEVA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iraq and the United States are close to a security accord which could clear the way for large-scale U.S. troop withdrawals by 2001, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said here on Saturday.
"We have a single text, a final draft ... It is up to the political leadership now to make a political decision," Zebari told reporters on the sidelines of an international security conference.
Zebari said, however, that the accord would be a "very tactical and detailed" one, and it would not contain a fixed timetable for withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign troops.
"We are not talking about a fixed timetable ... and everything is condition-based, condition-driven," he said.
According to the official, U.S. and other foreign troops could start withdrawal from major Iraqi cities next summer, if security conditions in the country continue to improve.
Large-scale troop withdrawals could only be possible in 2011, he said.
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