U.S. denies setting timetable for Iraq to disarm militia

The White House denied on Monday reports of setting a timetable for the Iraqi government to disarm the militia and said the Iraqi government had set such a timetable instead.

When asked if the United States is pressing a timetable for the Iraqi government to disarm the militants, White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "No."

"The Iraqis themselves have set a timetable for trying to disarm the militia. They want to do so by the end of the year," Snow said.

Snow said the Bush administration will not change its strategy in Iraq.

"The strategy is to help Iraq defend, sustain and govern itself using three different approaches, all of which are interlocking and all of which are dependent upon the others. And that's security, economic and political. That's not going to change," Snow said.

Snow said the Bush administration will change the tactics in Iraq. "What you do is you respond constantly, especially on the security side, to the challenges that may arise in Baghdad or elsewhere," Snow said.

A total of 86 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month, the highest casualty of any month this year. The Bush administration has been under mounting pressure to adjust tactics in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua