Rice Denies Date for American Troop Withdrawal From Iraq Has Been Agreed

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, today played down reports of an agreement between America and Iraq on a withdrawal date for US combat troops as she made an unannounced visit to Baghdad.

"It is undoubtedly true that the negotiators have taken this very, very far toward an end agreement, but there is no reason to believe that there is an agreement yet or that there is going to be today," she told reporters on board her plane. "But I will have a chance with the prime minister to really know if there are any other gaps that we have to close from Washington."

Rice is due to hold talks with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and other top Iraqi officials. She hopes to resolve remaining differences in a long-awaited US-Iraq security deal that will pave the way for American troops to go home. Rice said reports that a draft deal had been concluded were premature.

"There are still issues concerning exactly how our forces operate," Rice said. "The agreement rests on aspirational timelines."

US officials say more fine-tuning is needed on a schedule for American troop withdrawals, immunity from prosecution for US forces and the handling of Iraqi prisoners. Iraqi officials, who are keen to nail down an agreement on US troop withdrawals, say the agreement is nearly done.

The deal will allow US forces to stay in Iraq beyond the end of this year, when a UN security council mandate expires. The mandate for an international presence was enacted after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraq says it would like the agreement to include dates for US forces to withdraw from the country, with the US ceasing routine patrols on Iraqi streets by the middle of next year, and withdrawing combat troops by 2010 or 2011. Withdrawal in two years' time would be in line with proposals by the US Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, who wants American troops out by mid-2010.

The Bush administration and John McCain, the Republican candidate, do not want to commit to firm withdrawal dates, preferring vaguer terms such as "time horizons" and "aspirational goals" for a pullout. The US, which still has about 140,000 US troops in Iraq, insists that it would be wiser to set a target linked to the attainment of certain goals that would reflect not only security improvements but also progress on the political and economic fronts.

"Ultimately the prime minister has to make the call on moving forward," Rice said, describing her visit as "a chance for me to meet with the prime minister and see what we can do from Washington to get to closure."

Other issues that need to be sorted out include immunity for US troops from Iraqi law and the status of prisoners held by American forces. The US holds some 21,000 prisoners in Iraq who it considers dangerous but have not been charged with any crime.

Rice said she would also discuss Iraq's failure to enact an election law to allow provincial polls due on October 1 to take place on time. The election law was held up in parliament because of a dispute between Kurds and other groups over how to run the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, despite strong American pressure for Iraqi politicians to reach a deal.