Iraqi official says U.S. troop deal needed

BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. troops must remain in Iraq until Iraqi forces are fully capable of replacing foreign forces, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said Wednesday.

Hashimi, speaking with reporters before meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, said the recently signed security agreement outlining terms of U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq counters an anticipated security void if U.S. troops had ended their mission soon, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.

Iraq didn't have a choice but to accept the agreement, Hashimi said, adding that government officials hoped Iraqi forces would step up their capabilities before the U.S. pullout in three years.

The Status of Forces Agreement approved by Iraqi officials early in December provides that U.S. combat forces will leave Iraqi cities and towns by next summer and be completely out of Iraq by the end of 2011. The pact will take effect Jan. 1, the day after a U.N. mandate on international military presence in Iraq expires.