.U.S. commander sees fewer foreign fighters in Iraq
BAGHDAD, June 15 (Reuters) - Iraq has seen a significant fall in the number of foreign fighters arriving to battle U.S. and local forces, and efforts by neighbouring Syria are starting to bear fruit, U.S. General Ray Odierno said on Monday.
Foreign militants including members of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda have been drawn to Iraq since the U.S. military invaded in 2003. They have been blamed for some of the worst attacks on U.S. troops and Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslim-led government.
"We have seen a significant decrease in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq in the last eight to 10 months," Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told a news conference alongside the Iraqi defence and interior ministers. "For the most part it has just been a trickle ... We have seen some fighters coming through Syria, but Syria has been taking some action over the last few weeks, so hopefully that will continue," Odierno said.
Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply in the past year. But insurgents still launch deadly attacks against U.S. forces and against civilians in a bid to spark renewed sectarian bloodshed and undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's administration.
U.S. troops are due to leave Iraqi towns and villages this month before withdrawing completely by the end of 2011 in line with a security pact between Baghdad and Washington.
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim said the June 30 withdrawal of American soldiers from urban centres marked the start of an important new era building Iraq's institutions.
Iraq's defence forces will stand alone in the run up to a parliamentary poll in January. Maliki has said attacks will likely intensify ahead of the vote.
Odierno said a "very small number" of U.S. troops will remain in some Iraqi towns and cities as trainers and advisers.
"The dark days of the previous years are behind us. Iraqis are able to live more normal lives," he said. "It is a fitting time for our combat forces to move out."
Reuters
Did someone move the bait?
Foreign militants including members of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda have been drawn to Iraq since the U.S. military invaded in 2003. They have been blamed for some of the worst attacks on U.S. troops and Iraq's majority Shi'ite Muslim-led government.
"We have seen a significant decrease in the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq in the last eight to 10 months," Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, told a news conference alongside the Iraqi defence and interior ministers. "For the most part it has just been a trickle ... We have seen some fighters coming through Syria, but Syria has been taking some action over the last few weeks, so hopefully that will continue," Odierno said.
Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply in the past year. But insurgents still launch deadly attacks against U.S. forces and against civilians in a bid to spark renewed sectarian bloodshed and undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's administration.
U.S. troops are due to leave Iraqi towns and villages this month before withdrawing completely by the end of 2011 in line with a security pact between Baghdad and Washington.
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim said the June 30 withdrawal of American soldiers from urban centres marked the start of an important new era building Iraq's institutions.
Iraq's defence forces will stand alone in the run up to a parliamentary poll in January. Maliki has said attacks will likely intensify ahead of the vote.
Odierno said a "very small number" of U.S. troops will remain in some Iraqi towns and cities as trainers and advisers.
"The dark days of the previous years are behind us. Iraqis are able to live more normal lives," he said. "It is a fitting time for our combat forces to move out."
Reuters
Did someone move the bait?
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