Iraqi PM is a US puppet- Opposed to US troop withdrawal deadline while Iraqi people want US to leave

Iraq would like to see United States forces withdraw as soon as feasible, but setting a date for their departure would be a mistake, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in an interview published on Friday.

"We would like to see the withdrawal of American forces as quickly as possible, because the presence of any foreign troops on our land means there is a weakness that we cannot by ourselves control the security situation," Jaafari said in an interview with The Washington Post.

But a deadline would "play into the hands of the terrorists," Jaafari said on the eve of a meeting with US President George W. Bush at the White House on Friday.

Some US lawmakers, including a few from Bush’s own Republican Party, have called for a deadline to begin withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

But the White House and the Pentagon have rejected the idea, saying insurgents would simply wait for a withdrawal and then renew their fight.

In the interview, Jaafari called instead for accelerating the training of Iraqi troops, including a possible role for nations that are not a part of the US-led military coalition.

The newspaper said Jaafari insisted that recent US-Iraqi offensives have improved security "dramatically."

Jaafari also insisted that Iraq would meet an August deadline for a new constitution even though nothing has yet been written.