By KATRIN BENNHOLD International Herald Tribune
November 2, 2006

PARIS— President Jalal Talabani of Iraq said today that American-led troops should remain in Iraq for at least two years to give the country time to build up its security forces.

His remarks, delivered at the start of a six-day visit to France, came as political pressure is building in the Unites States and Britain to withdraw the 150,000 coalition troops now in Iraq. Surveys show that the war has become the No. 1 issue for American voters in next week’s midterm elections, darkened by the continuing violence, mounting death toll and widespread concern that no progress is being made.

“We need time,” Mr. Talabani told a conference in Paris before meeting with President Jacques Chirac of France this afternoon. “I believe two to three years could be enough to build up our forces, before we can say bye-bye and thanks to our friends.”

Mr. Chirac told Mr. Talabani in their meeting that it was important to fix a date for troop withdrawals, according to Jerome Bonnafont, Mr. Chirac’s spokesman.

But some French diplomats said two or three years seemed like a long time. Last week, General George Casey, the American commander in Iraq, suggested that Iraqi troops would be able to take on most security tasks within 12 to 18 months.

Mr. Talabani’s visit is the latest sign that relations between Baghdad and Paris are on the mend after the friction caused by France’s opposition to the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. At the time, Mr. Talabani, a Kurd, was publicly critical of France’s stance.

Mr. Talabani is traveling with four other senior Iraqi officials, including the foreign minister, Hoshjar Sebari, and the industry minister, Fausi al Hariri. They are pressing France to get more involved in reconstruction efforts and to help train Iraq’s police force to fight terrorists. The Iraqi government has said it needs about $100 billion over the next five years to rebuild the country’s water, power and sewage systems, roads, hospitals, schools and other facilities.

“We asked President Chirac to continue to support the Iraqi people, and we expressed our desire to improve and deepen relations between Iraq and France in all fields,” Mr. Talabani said after meeting with Mr. Chirac for an hour.

“The response was positive,” he added, without giving any details.

French diplomats said its offer of 2003 to train Iraqi military police officers in Qatar was still open. But they were guarded about putting French money into reconstruction.

“For us, this visit has a political character, rather than an economic or financial one,” said Denis Simmoneau, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry.

“We want to show our solidarity with the Iraqi people and institutions,” he said, but before investing in reconstruction, “we need to be reassured on the security situation and the judicial situation.”

Under European Union auspices, some 500 Iraqi judges, policemen, soldiers and academics are training in France for their roles. France, one of Iraq’s main creditors in the past, has forgiven about $6 billion of Iraqi debts. Next year, the French government plans to open a new consular office in Erbil, in the Kurdish part of Iraq, where Mr. Talabani grew up.