Maliki quotes on pullout at issue

BAGHDAD, July 21 (UPI) -- Iraq says Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not endorse Barack Obama's troop pullout plan but The New York Times says audiotape seems to indicate he did.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday that Maliki said in an interview U.S. troops should leave Iraq "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned."

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months," Maliki was quoted as saying. "That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

A spokesman for Maliki Saturday issued a statement through the U.S. military in Iraq, saying the comments were "misunderstood and mistranslated." The statement, which came after U.S. embassy officials in Baghdad called Maliki's office, did not specify how Maliki's remarks had been mistranslated.

The Times reported Monday the interpreter for the interview is an employee in Maliki's office, and a direct translation of an audio tape of the interview seems to indicate Maliki expressed what the newspaper called a clear affinity for Obama's position.

"Obama's remarks that -- if he takes office -- in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq," the newspaper quotes Maliki as saying.