US President George W. Bush said in an interview published yesterday in The New York Times that US troops would pull out of Iraq if the new leaders to be elected Sunday requested it.
The statement came as insurgents stepped up attacks against polling centers across Iraq, killing at least a dozen people, including a US Marine, in the rebel campaign to frighten Iraqis away from participating in this weekend's election.
Also, a car bomb exploded near a Baghdad police station yesterday, killing four people and injuring two others, police said.
Officers guarding the police station in the capital's southern Dora neighborhood opened fire on the vehicle as it sped toward them and exploded, a police official said.
Bush said that, given the ongoing violence, he expected Iraqis to ask US troops to remain as helpers, not occupiers.
"I've heard the voices of the people that presumably will be in a position of responsibility after these elections, though you never know," Bush said. "But it seems like most of the leadership there understands that there will be a need for coalition troops at least until Iraqis are able to fight."
Asked by the daily in its 40-minute interview, conducted Thursday, if the US troops should be withdrawn if the new Iraqi administeration requested it, Bush said: "Yes, absolutely. And this is a sovereign government -- they're on their feet."
Meanwhile, as part of an intensifying campaign of intimidation, an al-Qaida affiliate led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi posted a videotape on the Internet on Thursday showing the murder of a candidate from the party of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
The tape included a warning to Allawi personally: "You traitor, wait for the angel of death."
To protect voters tomorrow, hundreds of US soldiers began moving out of their massive garrison on the western edge of Baghdad to take up positions at smaller bases throughout the city to respond more quickly to any election day attacks.
Sunni Muslim insurgents have threatened to disrupt the balloting, when Iraqis choose a 275-member National Assembly and governing councils in the country's 18 provinces. Voters in the Kurdish self-governing area of the north will select a new regional parliament.
In the former rebel stronghold of Fallujah, where opposition to the balloting is strong, US Marines drove through the city Thursday, urging people through loudspeakers to turn out tomorrow. Spokesman 1st Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert said the Marines were "encouraging people to capitalize on this opportunity to exercise their voice by voting in the upcoming free elections."
Iraqi newspapers also published for the first time the names of some 7,000 National Assembly candidates, many of whose identities had been kept secret to protect them from assassination.
The interim government will deploy an additional 2,500 troops to help guard the elections, the Defense Ministry said. A total of 300,000 Iraqi and multinational troops will provide security, with Iraq's US-trained forces taking the lead role.
About 9,000 Iraqi troops also are being dispatched to guard oil pipelines, which insurgents repeatedly have targeted.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS