US to withdraw 12,000 troops from Iraq by September

July 4th, 2009 BAGHDAD - US Vice President Joe Biden Saturday said the United States was committed to withdrawing its soldiers from Iraq by the end of 2011. Speaking from Baghdad on US Independence Day, less than a week after US soldiers withdrew from Iraqi cities, Biden said the White House would honour pledges to complete the military's withdrawal from Iraq in two years' time.

July 2nd, 2009 White House: VP Biden has traveled to IraqWASHINGTON — The White House says Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq. He's there to visit U.S.

June 29th, 2009 Iraq takes control of security, US troops withdrawBAGHDAD — Iraqi forces have assumed formal control of security in Baghdad and other cities after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas.

June 29th, 2009 Military: US soldier killed in combat in IraqBAGHDAD — The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed in combat in Iraq.

April 27th, 2009 Iraq wants US forces out of Mosul on timeBAGHDAD — Iraq wants American troops to withdraw from urban areas and only return with government approval, a defense ministry spokesman said Monday, casting doubt about whether the U.S. can maintain troops in certain trouble spots even as they withdraw elsewhere.

April 25th, 2009 BAGHDAD - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Iraqi capital on an unannounced visit, Voices of Iraq news agency reported Saturday. The visit comes at a time as the new US ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, is taking up his office.

March 31st, 2009 BAGHDAD - The British military Tuesday formally transferred control of its base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra to US forces in a ceremony attended by Iraqi leaders. The transfer follows Britain's agreement last year to withdraw all but 500 of the 4,100 troops it had stationed in Iraq ahead of its complete military withdrawal from the country in July.

March 31st, 2009 BAGHDAD - The British army is to begin Tuesday its official troops withdrawal from Iraq's southern city of Basra, a police source said. American troops are expected to replace the withdrawing British troops, which were stationed in Basra's air-base during the past six years since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the source said.

March 1st, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader Saturday warned Iraq over the prolonged presence of US forces in that country, the Iranian media reported. 'The occupiers are preparing grounds for a long and enduring presence in Iraq and this is a big danger of which the Iraqi officials should be aware,' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

February 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barak Obama plans to withdraw majority of the US troops from Iraq by August 2010, officials said. According to the plan, of the 142,000 US troops in Iraq, 30,000-50,000 soldiers would remain in the country till December 2011, while the rest would move out by August 2010, media reports said quoting government officials.

January 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US military is to deploy about 20,000 Marines to Afghanistan in six to eight months, a senior military officer has said. 'The time is right for Marines to leave Iraq,' Marine Commandant James Conway told reporters here, adding that the deployment is a result of troop withdrawal from Iraq.

January 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - On the very first day in office, US President Barack Obama will discuss war issues with his national security aides and senior commanders Wednesday. According to reports, the new commander in chief was summoning Defence Secretary Robert Gates and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen along with other members of his national security council to the White House to discuss a way ahead in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

January 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US president-elect Barack Obama would deal with military withdrawal from Iraq and the domestic financial crisis after his swearing-in, incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday. 'First he's going to meet with his economic team to see where we are on an economic recovery and re-investment plan ...

December 31st, 2008 BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces Thursday were handed over control of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone from US troops in a landmark event leading towards Iraq's full sovereignty, local media reported. Located in central Baghdad, the Green Zone houses several ministries, the Iraqi parliament and the US and British embassies.

December 30th, 2008 BAGHDAD - Iraq's defence ministry Wednesday signed two agreements on the withdrawal of British and Australian troops from the country, a ministry spokesman said. The agreements came hours before the expiry of the United Nations Security Council Mandate.