Iraq troops in charge of security 'by 2007'

Iraqi troops will be ready to take charge of security in the country by the end of next year, so this month’s UN Security Council extension of the mandate for multinational force in Iraq could be the last, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said today.

Speaking on Al-Jazeera Television, Jabr criticised attacks against foreign forces in Iraq, saying: “What is happening in Iraq has nothing to do with resistance but it is terrorism. They try to target an American tank and it (bomb) could hit the target once but misses dozens of times and explode in the middle of our people.”

He said foreign troops should stay in Iraq until the country’s security forces are trained and read. “By mid next year we will be 75% done in building our forces and by the end of next year it will be fully ready.”

Earlier this month, the Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mandate of the nearly 180,000-strong multinational force in Iraq for a year, a decision the US called a strong sign of the international commitment to Iraq’s political transition.

“In my opinion, this is the last extension for coalition forces then Iraq security forces will be in charge within Iraq,” Jabr said.

He called insurgents to join security forces in order to bring the withdrawal closer.

“I beg you to tell them to join. I want to recruit 1,200 members and I ask some of those who call themselves resistance fighters to come and join us in the National Unity battalion that includes, Kurds, Shabak, Yazidis, Shiites and Sunnis and Turkomen,” he said referring to the country’s different ethnic and religious groups.