France urges 2008 date for U.S. departure from Iraq
Source: Reuters
PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led forces backing the Iraqi government should leave the country around the time of the next U.S. presidential elections, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Tuesday. "There has to be the prospect of a departure by the international forces so that the Iraqis take their destiny back into their own hands," Douste-Blazy said on Canal+ television. "I think it's obvious that it should be before (or) around the American elections" in 2008, he said. His comments come as U.S. President George W. Bush prepares to announce a new strategy in Iraq, where U.S. forces have become mired in a worsening war that has killed more than 3,000 U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis. Democrats won back control of Congress last year after an election dominated by Iraq and Bush is due to announce his plans -- expected to include an increase in the 135,000 U.S. troops stationed there -- when he addresses Americans on Wednesday. France led international opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, criticism President Jacques Chirac renewed last week when he referred to the intervention as an adventure that had undermined stability in the entire region.
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