Rumsfeld rebuffs Iraq troop withdrawal suggestion

12 minutes ago

BERLIN (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rebuffed a suggestion that up to 50,000 US troops could leave Iraq this year, after reported comments by President Jalal Talabani.

Speaking shortly before the start of talks with his NATO counterparts in Berlin, he said he had not discussed that suggestion with Talibani when he met him two days previously.

"I've not seen what President Talibani may have said," he told reporters after bilateral talks with Britain's defense minister John Reid, but added: "He did not say that to me when we met the day before yesterday."

The comments came after Talabani, currently in the US, gave an upbeat assessment of when US troops might leave based on the fact that enough Iraqi troops could be trained to take control of a number of major cities.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050913/pl_afp/iraqustroopsnato

Sorry Talabani, you've been duped.