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Iraq sees US troop withdrawal by end-06

* Talabani says Iraqi forces will be able to take over security in one year

BERLIN: Iraq should be able to agree a timetable for the reduction of US-led coalition forces in the country by the end of next year, President Jalal Talabani told a German television talk show on Sunday.

Talabani told ARD television's Sabine Christiansen a draw down would be possible because Iraqi security forces would be in a position to progressively replace coalition forces from the end of 2006. "By the end of next year we will be able to draw up an agreement with the coalition forces for a step by step, a timetable for the withdrawal of their troops from Iraq," Talabani said, according to the German interpretation of his remarks.

Meanwhile, a new poll shows most Iraqis disapprove of the presence of US forces in their country, yet they are optimistic about Iraq's future and their own personal lives.

More than two-thirds of those surveyed oppose the presence of troops from the United States and its coalition partners and less than half, 44 percent, say their country is better off now than it was before the war, according to an ABC News poll conducted with Time magazine and other media partners. But Iraqis are surprisingly upbeat on many fronts, the poll suggests.

Three-quarters say they are confident about the parliamentary elections scheduled for this week. More than two-thirds expect things in their country to get better in the coming months.

Attitudes about Iraq's future were sharply different in the Sunni provinces and other parts of Iraq, however. Only a third in the Sunni regions were optimistic about their country's future. Shiites, who with the Kurds dominate the current parliament, had a much more positive view than the Sunnis of their own personal safety and whether their own lives are going well.

A majority of both the Sunni and Shiite population say they favour a unified country, however.

At the same time, another poll shows Iraqis say electing a strong leader to improve security is more important than democracy, according to an opinion poll. Half of those questioned in a survey commissioned by the BBC said they thought Iraq needed a single, strong leader after Thursday's election, while only 28 percent cited democracy as their top priority.

However, asked what they would need in five years' time, less than a third of Iraqis said a strong leader and 45 percent said democracy, according to the poll of 1,700 people conducted by Oxford Research International in October and November.

The survey found that many Iraqis are optimistic about the future even if they regard the current situation as bad. agencies

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