US troops to leave Iraqi cities on time

US combat troops are scheduled to leave Iraq?s towns and cities by June 30 and redeploy to bases outside, according to a security pact that took effect in January. But some US and Iraqi officials had suggested this might have to be delayed for Mosul, which is still plagued by Al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups, who stage frequent attacks. Asked whether US combat forces were on track for a total pullout from all cities, including Mosul, army Gen. Ray Odierno said: ?We are. We have done a joint assessment... We have finalized that.? ?We will come out of the cities. We will provide some trainers and advisers, LNOs (liason officers)... inside of Mosul... but that?ll be it,? he said. Odierno had previously not ruled out staying on in Mosul if the Iraqi government requested help to fight insurgents. An American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb that struck his patrol in eastern Baghdad, the US Army said yesterday. He was the first American military casualty in June after 25 US troops died May, the highest US military death toll in Iraq for eight months. No further details were provided in the US statement. Iraq?s Cabinet has approved a draft law to let some British forces stay on in Iraq for a year longer in training and support missions; Kazinform cites the Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version