Iraq 'ready next June to handle own security'

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said today that he believed Iraqi forces would be ready by next June to take full control of security in Iraq, an issue on which he pressed US President George Bush during their Amman, Jordan, summit.

In making the argument that his military and police could handle security in the country, al-Maliki has routinely said the force could do the job within six months.

“I can say that Iraqi forces will be ready, fully ready, to receive this command and to command its own forces and I can tell you that by next June our forces will be ready,” Maliki said in an interview with ABC television’s Charles Gibson.

Bush and al-Maliki agreed that the US would speed efforts to turn security over the Iraqi forces, although they mentioned no timetable during a post-summit news conference.