IRAQ: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says his country did not ask for additional U.S. troops/ Iran's ambassador to Iraq says Iranians captured in Iraq will soon be freed

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says his government did not asked the United States to send additional troops to Iraq. In Baghdad, Iran's ambassador says that Iraqi officials have promised him that Iranians captured by U.S. troops will be freed "within days". Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday (January 18) that his government had not asked the United States to send additional troops to Iraq. "I do not know how they are (The U.S. government) thinking. It's up to them to decide. We did not ask for more troops but if they send more troops they are welcomed," Talabani said in an interview with Reuters in the Syrian capital Damascus. Talabani said that Syria was taking action to prevent foreign fighters from crossing the border from Syria into Iraq. "There is an agreement to exchange information between the two brotherly countries and this will lead to enhance the security situation in the region because the Syrian announced position is a moral contribution to reinforce the Iraqi security," Talabani said. Earlier, Syria's president promised to do what he could to ease tensions in neighbouring Iraq during the landmark visit Talabani. U.S. President George Bush accuses Syria of backing Iraq's violence. "The position of President al-Assad is clear to support Iraq, Iraq independence, stability and security in Iraq," Talabani added. Meanwhile in Baghdad on Thursday Iran's ambassador to Iraq said that Iraqi officials had promised him that Iranians captured by U.S. troops in north of the country last week will be freed "within days". "The Iraqi government is responsible for following up the issue. The capture of the Iranian diplomats is a big insult to the Iraqi government," Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazimi Qomi told a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad. It is the first public comment by an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad about last Thursday's U.S. raid on Iranian consulate in the northern city of Arbil. The U.S. forces detained five employees, including diplomats and staff, Iranian officials said. Qoam described the detention of the Iranian diplomats as an insult to the Iraqi government and people and a breach of its sovereignty.

ITN Source | January 18, 2007

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