Petraeus to halt Iraq troop withdrawals in July

By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday he plans to stop U.S. troop withdrawals in July due to fragile security gains and heard appeals for quicker action to find a way to end the war.

Appearances by Gen. David Petraeus and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, drew U.S. presidential candidates eager to be heard on an issue that is among top concerns of war-weary American voters ahead of the November election.

Petraeus gave them a cautious assessment. "We haven't turned any corners, we haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

While Republican candidate Sen. John McCain said current policy is succeeding, Democratic senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton called for faster troop withdrawals, a move opposed by the two top U.S. officials in Baghdad.

They made their assessment a year after thousands more U.S. troops were poured into Iraq and after a new outbreak of violence in recent weeks, including the deaths of 11 American service personnel in the past 48 hours.

Petraeus told two Senate committees there has been an improvement in security in parts of Iraq but that the gains are uneven.

To avoid jeopardizing the gains of the past year, he said he had recommended a 45-day halt in July to a series of troop withdrawals. After that pause, he would assess conditions on the ground to determine whether security is sufficient to bring more troops home.

WITHDRAWAL TIMETABLE