Republicans quarrel over Iraq in White House race

FORT MYERS, Florida (Reuters) - The Iraq war reclaimed the spotlight in the Republican race for the White House on Saturday as front-runner John McCain accused rival Mitt Romney of backing a set withdrawal of U.S. troops -- a charge Romney angrily denied.

The testy exchange marked a change of focus to Iraq from the flagging U.S. economy just days before Tuesday's vote in the hotly contested Florida race, the next Republican battle in the state-by-state contests to pick nominees for the November 4 presidential election to succeed President George W. Bush.

The fireworks began when McCain accused the former Massachusetts governor and business executive of proposing a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from the Iraq war, which McCain has long backed.

"Governor Romney wanted to set a date for withdrawal similar to what the Democrats are seeking, which would have led to a victory by al Qaeda in my view," McCain told a rally at a restaurant decked out with stars and stripes.

In April, Romney said President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should have timetables and milestones for reducing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq but that those should not be made public.

In those comments, made to ABC News, he stopped short of seeking a specific date for withdrawing troops.

Romney demanded an apology from McCain, a 71-year-old four-term senator from Arizona and Vietnam War hero.

"To say that I have a specific date is simply wrong and is dishonest and he should apologize. That is not the case. I've never said that," Romney told reporters in Land O'Lakes, a Florida city of about 21,000 people.

On Friday, the rivals bickered over who knew more about the U.S. economy, which Romney has put at the center of his campaign amid growing fears of a recession.

But on Saturday, the back-and-forth between them shifted media attention back to the Iraq war, a dominant theme of McCain's campaign.

"I was there when he said he wanted a timetable for withdrawal," McCain told voters in Sun City, a retirement community. "I think the apology is owed to the young men and women who are serving this nation in uniform."

A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Saturday showed McCain with a narrow 3-point advantage over Romney in Florida, 31 percent to 28 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points. McCain won the backing of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Saturday.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has staked his entire campaign on Florida, trailed in the poll at 15 percent. "My opponents are engaging in negative campaigning," he said. "The reason I'm being positive is I think that's the way I'm going to win."

Worsening economic conditions are not the only factor that has drawn attention away from the war. The decline in deaths among U.S. troops has led to less media coverage of the war, shifting the debate to issues such as health care, the subprime mortgage and credit crisis and immigration.

Florida is the largest state to vote so far and is an important test of Republican support because only party members are allowed to participate. McCain relied heavily on independents in his primary victory in New Hampshire.

(Writing by Jason Szep. Additional reporting by Barbara Liston in Orlando; Editing by Peter Cooney)