US President Obama is close to a decision to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, the Washington Post and New York Times reported Wednesday.
The reports said that Obama was expected to announce the decision this week, encompassing a withdrawal timetable that is three months longer than the 16-month withdrawal schedule he promised in his campaign, dpa reported.
Military commanders had persuaded him that the extra time was needed to "cement security gains, strengthen political institutions and make sure Iraq did not become more unstable again," the New York Times reported.
Currently there are some 140,000 US troops in Iraq. But even after the troops withdraw, tens of thousands of US soldiers would remain in Iraq to assist in training Iraqi forces and guarding US institutions in the country.
The reports said that Obama is considered likely to announce his decision in a speech he is scheduled to give at a military base in North Carolina on Friday.
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