The Pentagon yesterday called “completely false” two British papers’ reports that the United States and Britain plan to pull out of Iraq by early 2007.
A spokesman in Iraq said the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Mirror articles weren’t based on fact. “This news report on a withdrawal of forces within a set time frame is completely false,” Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said.
The papers said the plan stemmed from acceptance of the fact that foreign troops have become an obstacle to securing peace in Iraq, where the United States has about 133,000 personnel and Britain has 8,500.
The Iraqi army, meanwhile, claimed to have foiled a planned attack on a Shiite shrine in Baghdad. And early yesterday, gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in the capital, killing three.