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Paris - French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Wednesday asked Washington to draw up a "timetable of withdrawal" for its forces from Iraq.
"I think that it is now necessary of have a timetable of withdrawal," Douste-Blazy told France 2 television. "There is an occupier (country), there is an occupied (country). Iraq must be able to exist with sovereignty."
The French foreign minister said that the question of the mandate of foreign troops in Iraq will soon be discussed at the UN Security Council.
He added, however, that in his "personal opinion" an immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq would be "even worse" than the present situation.
During last week's visit of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to France, President Jacques Chirac had asked the Americans to provide a "perspective of withdrawal," without going so far as to demand a timetable.