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[kskiska]

This corroborates the Independent article.

Governing body in Baghdad wants to limit American military to patrolling borders and guarding oil installations

Iraq's governing council wants to significantly reduce the role of the US military after the rapidly advanced handover of sovereignty in July next year. The American-appointed governing council signed a groundbreaking agreement with the US civil administration in Baghdad on Saturday, paving the way for a new transitional Iraqi government to take power much faster than originally intended.

US officials, including the defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, have insisted that American troops will stay in Iraq. But the governing council wants to limit their presence as much as possible. It envisages a much restricted role for US troops - simply guarding the national border and oil installations - leaving the majority of internal security duties to Iraqi forces.

There has also been a suggestion of inviting a UN-led multinational force to replace the coalition.

Entifadh Qanbar, a senior member of the Iraqi National Congress, the party led by the Pentagon-favoured exile, Ahmad Chalabi, said yesterday that US troops should stop patrolling Iraqi cities and confine their operations to securing the country's long, porous borders once the new government was established.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1086730,00.html