Top Sunni asked Bush for pullout timeline

http://www.heraldnewsdaily.com/stories/news-00195066.html

Top Sunni asked Bush for pullout timeline

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq ‘s vice president has asked President Bush for a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, the Iraqi president‘s office said.

"I supported him in this," President Jalal Talabani said in a statement released Wednesday. Al-Hashimi‘s representatives could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Al-Hashimi also said there were "promises to free about 3,500 detainees" by June 26, the statement from Talabani‘s office said. That number that would be above the 2,500 to be freed as part of a bid by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to soothe Sunni Arabs over allegations of random detentions and maltreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government.

The vice president also complained about a number of covert prisons run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry "where many violations are committed," according to the statement from the president‘s office.