Iraq says U.S. agreed troop pullout compromise

By Khalid al-Ansary

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States asked Iraq for permission to keep troops there to 2015 but compromised with Iraqi negotiators on 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said.

The bilateral security pact negotiations underscore the Iraqi government's increasing assertiveness in seeking to define the future of the U.S. presence as violence drops sharply across the country.

"It was a U.S. proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011," Talabani said in an interview with al-Hurra TV, a transcript of which was posted on his party's website on Wednesday.

"Iraq has the right, if necessary, to extend the presence of these troops," Talabani said from the United States, where he has been recovering from heart surgery earlier this month.

The anticipated pact will provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year.

U.S. officials said that the negotiations, although close to conclusion, continue, and declined comment on the specifics of Talabani's statements.

"As we've said, negotiations are ongoing and we are not going to get into the details until an agreement is concluded," an embassy official in Baghdad said.

Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that the two sides had accepted the end of 2011 as the departure date for the approximately 145,000 U.S. troops in lraq.