ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Iraq (AFP) - – 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.
The current plan foresees two combat brigade teams departing by the end of the year but Gates said "maybe one more" brigade could be withdrawn as well before elections in January.
The precise number of additional troops that might be withdrawn remains unclear but a combat brigade comprises about 3,000 to 4,000 troops and is often accompanied by supporting units. There are 14 combat brigade teams deployed in Iraq.
Violence has dropped markedly throughout Iraq in recent months though attacks increased in the run-up to the US military's pullback from urban areas last month, with 437 Iraqis killed -- the highest death toll in 11 months.
Gates spoke after a meeting with Massud Barzani, who was re-elected on Wednesday as 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.
Gates told the Kurdish leader in the regional capital Arbil that it is vital both sides move quickly before US forces leave Iraq.
"He urged them to take advantage of our remaining time in Iraq to settle some of these disputed issues they have with the central government in Baghdad," Morrell told reporters accompanying Gates as he flew from Iraq to Turkey.
Barzani, who secured his re-election with 69.57 percent of the vote from Saturday's election, later said Maliki was expected soon in Kurdistan.
"He (Maliki) will visit Kurdistan soon, to discuss and to solve all pending problems between us and Baghdad," Barzani told AFP.
Odierno said on Tuesday that tensions between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs over boundaries and oil revenues represent the biggest threat to the country's stability.
Kurdish demands to expand their autonomous region in northern Iraq to include the Kirkuk oil fields and other districts has triggered an increasingly heated war of words with the Shiite-led central government.
Odierno said: "We think that many of the insurgent groups are trying to exploit Kurd-Arab tensions in the north."
The US military is closely monitoring the situation and has set up liaison offices with commanders of Kurdish militia and Baghdad government forces to try to prevent tensions from escalating, he said.
Gates, speaking to reporters aboard his plane on Wednesday, said no decision has been taken on the drawdown and he will wait for advice from Odierno in the next few months. "It really depends on circumstances."
Under a timetable approved by President Barack Obama, all US combat troops are due to pull out of Iraq by the end of August 2010 and a security pact with Baghdad requires all American forces to leave by the end of 2011.
Only months ago, US officers and analysts warned of a fragile situation in Iraq that could be jeopardised if American forces were pulled out too quickly.
The Obama administration has been anxious to free up troops and resources for a military buildup in Afghanistan.
Gates said the fact that Odierno was considering a faster drawdown showed that security trends were promising in Iraq after US forces pulled out of cities and towns at the end of last month.
"It is an indicator of his view that things are going pretty well following June 30th," he said, ruling out any scaling back of the drawdown.
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