BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden has told them that the incoming U.S. administration wants a responsible troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh says Biden delivered that message Tuesday in talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the second day of his visit to Iraq.
A new security agreement provides for a complete U.S. troop pullout by 2012.
The spokesman says Biden told al-Maliki that President-elect Barack Obama is committed to withdrawing troops from Iraq but in a manner that does not risk recent security gains.
Al-Dabbagh says Biden traveled later to the northern city of Kirkuk where tensions among Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen have raised tensions.
