Since the pullout of the U.S.-led coalition forces, Iraqi security forces have sometimes struggled to maintain order.
France had originally planned on starting to draw down troops in late March, but French President Francois Hollande now says that the gradual pullout of France's 4, 000 troops will start in April.
"They both agreed that there should be a time horizon for the pullout of the American troops and to be agreed by both sides after rehabilitating and training the Iraqi security forces, " the spokesman said.
Despite minor incidents and violations by both sides, says Mr Annan, the crucial part, a simultaneous pullout of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of both the Lebanese army and international peacekeepers, has proceeded apace.
Last week, Sharon left the Likud Party -- which he helped found in the 1970s -- and announced the creation of a new party, called Kadima -- officially separating himself from those in Likud who protested his pullout of Israeli settlers and troops from Gaza.
But now the fight on the Democrats' side is especially bitter because it's about superdelegates and about the regular pledged delegates and the pullout of Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, who was pledged for Hillary Clinton, now says he's not pulling out and is up in the air.
Berlusconi insisted he's not speeding up the pullout because of terror threats, that he was merely reiterating an earlier pledge to start bringing troops home.
Ariel Sharon has promised to expedite Israeli military operations, but anything short of a full pullout would be seen as a snub as US Secretary of State Colin Powell travels to the region.
But CNN correspondent Peter Arnett, escorted by a Bosnian Serb colonel into a Serb stronghold in Ludavica, saw evidence of a pullout.
President Barack Obama's plan calls for the U.S. to begin drawing down its 100, 000 troops in the country in July, but Mr. Obama and North Atlantic Treaty Organization commanders haven't specified the speed and extent of the pullout.
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Yediot, Israel Radio and other major news organs championed the cause of an Israeli pullout from Lebanon for a decade.
He recently broke with the conservative Likud party he helped found -- which did not support his pullout from Gaza and parts of the West Bank -- and is running for re-election as head of the moderate, newly formed Kadima Party.
The prep staff stock the pullout drawers beneath the counters with slabs of marinated meat and fish, serving-size baggies of pasta and crabmeat, steaming bowls of brown rice and mashed potatoes.
He used his 20-minute speech to try to clear the air with Democratic Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who's taken a lot of heat from Republicans for proposing a pullout from Iraq.
He said that while "the tragic events of last week need to be reported... lots of the talk subsequently about a wholesale pullout from Afghanistan does not support the soldiers who are out there risking their lives".
Their refusal to give Obama any credit for the fall of Gadhafi (some gave more credit to Great Britain and France) and harsh criticisms of his Iraqi timetable (the final pullout from Iraq was set by George W. Bush, not Obama) plays well with the Republican base, but looks small to other voters.
But while neither side is considering a permanent pullout, the longer the freeze goes on, the bleaker the future of the complex appears.
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The early departure of Chadian forces raises questions about how feasible the planned French pullout will be if the French want to maintain the inroads made against armed Islamic extremists in northern Mali.
The government didn't have a majority in Parliament even before the DMK pullout and it has been surviving on support from parties which aren't part of the coalition but have been voting in its favor on key issues.
With more than 3, 000 troops committed in Afghanistan -- the third largest foreign contingent after the United States and Britain -- any pullout by Germany would be a huge blow to NATO, both operationally and in terms of prestige.
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