U.S. to Meet June 30 Deadline of Military Withdrawal from Iraq -- Ambassador

WASHINGTON, June 19 -- The United States will, in accordance with its agreement with Iraq, withdraw combat troops from all Iraqi urban areas, U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill said here on Thursday.

"We signed that (security) agreement and we will absolutely comply fully with it. And that means pulling all combat forces out of the ... cities," Hill told reporters.

"What's important to understand is that in most cities in Iraq, our combat forces are already out of the cities. So this is not some brand-new model that we're not sure how it's going to work," Hill said.

"But to some extent, we've left the best for last -- that is, Baghdad and Mosul," the U.S. ambassador noted.

The Pentagon said in mid-April that American troops may stay in violence-plagued city, Mosul, after June 30, the deadline President Barack Obama has set for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraq.

Prior to that Obama indicated that his administration would not in a hurry to withdraw its troops from Iraq because "we still have a lot of work to do."

"We still have a lot of training of Iraqi forces to improve their capacity," Obama noted.

The Obama administration has decided to put an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010. However, about 50, 000 American soldiers will remain under a new mission until the end of 2011, according to Obama's order. (PNA/Xinhua)