Iraqi minister sceptical of US pullout

Iraq's defence minister has warned of the dangers of withdrawing US forces before the end of 2011.

Defence Minister General Abdel Qader Jassim said withdrawing before that date would threaten Iraq's oil exports, enable neighbouring countries to encroach on Iraqi territory and give free reign to foreign spies.

He said: "The period of the timetabled withdrawal gives us enough time to complete our abilities - training, combat and technical - and secures us great support"

His comments came a day after thousands of followers of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protested in Baghdad against the pact, which cabinet approved last weekend.

The speaker of Iraq's parliament, Mahmoud Mashhadani, said the house would vote on the pact on Wednesday, although some lawmakers said it could be delayed until after a holiday recess which begins next week.

While Sadr's followers oppose the pact outright and members of his bloc in parliament have disrupted parliamentary debates on it, other groups have reservations about some details.

"Successive governments have not succeeded in disarming the heavy and medium weapons of, and I am not naming any names, the armed blocs and armed wings" Mashhadani said.

Sadr's supporters have staged several violent uprisings since 2003 and the government has accused him of failing to disband his Mehdi Army militia, despite a ceasefire.

The security pact governs the US troop presence in Iraq and will replace a United Nations mandate which expires at the end of the year.

The defence minister Abdel Qader Jassim said Iraq's navy was not ready to assume responsibility from US led forces for protecting offshore terminals that export the country's crude.

"If we evict them in an unplanned or sudden way, then piracy will begin here and the ability to export will be hugely threatened." he said.

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