Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan

BERLIN (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that American troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and is set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.

Maliki's remarks were published a day after the White House said he and U.S. President George W. Bush had agreed that a security agreement currently being negotiated between them should include a "time horizon" for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Bush has long opposed setting a timetable for withdrawal, and the White House said the time horizon agreed by the two leaders was not as specific as a time frame pushed by Democrats and could be adjusted based on conditions on the ground.

Obama's presumptive opponent in the November presidential election, Republican Sen. John McCain, issued a statement from his campaign that emphasized McCain's common ground with Maliki.

"John McCain believes withdrawal must be based on conditions on the ground," the statement said.

"Prime Minister Maliki has repeatedly affirmed the same view, and did so again today. Timing is not as important as whether we leave with victory and honour, which is of no apparent concern to Barack Obama."

In his remarks in Der Spiegel, Maliki endorsed the more specific 16-month timetable backed by Obama, but a White House spokesman said there was no contradiction.

TROOP SHIFT TO AFGHANISTAN

"Our government has been in touch with Prime Minister Maliki's office," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in an e-mail. "In the interview, the prime minister made clear that any decision will be based on continuing positive developments."

Obama's campaign welcomed Maliki's support, with his senior national security adviser Susan Rice saying, "This presents an important opportunity to transition to Iraqi responsibility while restoring our military and increasing our commitment to finish the fight in Afghanistan."

Obama has called for a shift away from a "single-minded" focus on Iraq and wants to pull out troops within 16 months while adding U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

Asked if he supported Obama's ideas more than those of John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, Maliki said he did not want to recommend who people should vote for.

"Whoever is thinking about the shorter term is closer to reality. Artificially extending the stay of U.S. troops would cause problems."

Maliki, who is due to visit Germany this week, has suggested a timetable should be set for a U.S. withdrawal but U.S. officials have been more cautious, despite an improving security situation.

"The Americans have found it difficult to agree on a concrete timetable for the exit because it seems like an admission of defeat to them. But it isn't," Maliki told Der Spiegel.

Some five years after the U.S.-led invasion, there are still some 146,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; additional reporting by David Alexander in Crawford, Texas, and Jeff Mason in New York; editing by Jon Boyle and Eric Beech)