Troops needed in Iraq 'until end of 2006'

Iraq’s new interim president, Jalal Talabani, says he expects foreign troops will be needed at least until the end of 2006 and that a proposed amnesty for terrorists should not extend to members of al-Qaida.

In an interview published today in the French daily Liberation, Talabani, a Kurdish leader, said self-determination for Kurds “is not possible” and that an independent Kurdistan “could not survive”.