The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki expressed support for a pullout of US troops by 2010, after talks in Baghdad with the premier.

Obama who is on a two-day trip to Iraq also conceded he had not anticipated how well the US troop surge would work, in combination with local factors, the key political flashpoint on the war with his Republican rival John McCain.

"The prime minister said that now is an appropriate time to start to plan for the reorganisation of our troops in Iraq-including their numbers and missions," Obama said in a statement released by his Senate office.

"He stated his hope that US combat forces could be out of Iraq in 2010," he added, in a joint statment released with fellow senators Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel during their stopover in Iraq.

Obama, on an international tour to tout his commander-in-chief credentials, has vowed to pull most combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months if elected-a timeline only slightly shorter than Maliki's preferred date.

McCain has slammed the idea of what he calls artificial timetables for a US withdrawal, and says a longer term presence is vital to preserving recent security gains.

Obama met Maliki and President Jalal Talabani in Baghdad after arriving on Monday.

Maliki briefed Obama on recent progress in achieving security and stability, an Iraqi government statement said.