Updated on
Summary
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday dangled the prospect of a faster withdrawal of US troops as he urged Iraq's Arab and Kurdish leaders to settle their feuds. Gates told reporters after a two-day visit to Iraq that there was at least some chance for a modest acceleration of plans for the drawdown of American troops this year. Citing his talks with the top US commander in Iraq, he said a stepped up withdrawal was possible because of the way General (Ray) Odierno sees the way things going amid declining violence and increasingly capable Iraqi security forces. Gates spoke after a meeting with Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, following talks on Tuesday with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad. He reminded his hosts that we have all sacrificed too much in blood and treasure to see the gains of the last two years lost to political differences, his press secretary Geoff Morrell said after the meeting with Barzani. Gates told the Kurdish leader in the regional capital Arbil that it is vital both sides move quickly before US forces leave Iraq.
