Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday that he supports Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi's recent call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

The presidential office said in a statement that Hashimi presented his demand during a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday in Baghdad when Bush paid a surprise visit to Iraq.

"Mr. Hashimi asked President Bush to put a timetable for the multi-national forces to withdraw from Iraq, and I supported his demand," the statement quoted Talabani, a Kurd, as saying.

It said that Bush, for his part, asserted that the Americans also wanted to withdraw their about 130,000 troops from the country, but this should occur when the Iraqi security forces be ready.

As for the ongoing security operation, the statement said that Talabani and Hashimi have some reservations about the operation, including that the operation should include all Baghdad districts, not only some of it.

"We want the security operation to include all Baghdad districts to let people realize that the operation is not against one party, but it is against all kinds of terrorists," the statement said.

It referred to that the operation is go wild only in the mainly Sunni districts, who widely believed to be the backbone of insurgency against the U.S. troops and U.S.-backed Iraq government.

The Iraqi security forces intensified presence in the capital since Wednesday, starting "Operation Forward Together" aimed at curbing violence and insurgency in Baghdad.

More than 40,000 Iraqi security forces, backed by coalition forces, have deployed in Baghdad, home of some 7 million people.

Hashimi also said "we have pledges from the Americans to release 3,500 detainees within a period ending in June 26, 2006," according to the statement.

The number of detainees above the previously announced 2,500 to be released was a part of a deal reached with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who exerts efforts to secure national dialogue and widen political participation of all the Iraqi factions, particularly Sunni Arabs.

Hashimi was quoted as saying that the number of detainees released would continue to increase as "there is progress in the political process".

Source: Xinhua