HANDOVER DATE SET BY US

The United States will end its occupation of Iraq on June 30 next year, an American official has revealed.

But he said Coalition troops may still remain in the country, "at the invitation of the Iraqis".


Washington has been keen to speed up the handover of power in the country to Iraqis.

But officials insisted the superpower would not shirk from its stated mission in the face of increasingly frequent and more deadly attacks on Coalition interests in Iraq.

The Coalition official in Iraq said it was crucial that Iraqis knew the handover was coming

He said: "It is very important that that change is communicated... that occupation ends at the end of June next year.

"From the first of July, if there are foreign forces here... they are here at the invitation of the Iraqis."

Before the switch takes place, a new constitution for the country must be in place and elections held.


ndr

secondo me avverra' molto prima...