Turkey's Erdogan says US should set Iraq timetable

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Iraq is in a state of civil war and the United States should set a timetable to withdraw its forces, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview on Tuesday.

"The number of people who have died in sectarian violence exceeds, according to some figures, 650,000 ... when you have that many people who have died as a result of a conflict that is taking place, that could only be explained as a civil war," Erdogan said on the PBS program "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."

While U.S. President George W. Bush is exploring options for containing the sectarian violence, including a short-term increase in troop levels, Erdogan said it was time for the United States to plan a phased reduction of its military presence in Iraq.

"I would think that a road map should be explained and announced. And I think that the number of troops must be slowly diminished," Erdogan said through a translator.

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