WASHINGTON, US - US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama vowed on Monday not to seek permanent US military bases in Iraq and reiterated his pledge to pull out the bulk of US forces by mid-2010.

But he insisted on keeping 'a residual force' in the violence-ravaged nation to fight remnants of Al-Qaeda for an unspecified amount of time, if he moved to the White House next January.

Writing in The New York Times, Mr Obama, who has been under criticism for allegedly wavering on Iraq, said he would not hold the military or US resources 'hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.' He promised that he also 'would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea.' The comments came as the administration President George W. Bush and the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki were trying to strike a status-of-forces agreement to allow long-term US military deployments in Iraq.

Mr Obama's remarks follow charges he is trying to 'flip-flop' on his earlier pledge to end the more than five-year-old Iraq war in the face of Republican criticism that his plan is tantamount to 'surrender.' The Illinois senator again rejected the criticism, saying that ending the Iraq war was 'essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven.' To help reach these goals, he promised to send at at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces face increased resistance from a resurgent Taliban.

June was the deadliest month for foreign troops in Afghanistan since 2001 as 49 soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the separate US-led coalition were killed.

The US-led coalition has about 22,000 troops in Afghanistan most of whom are American. By contrast, there are currently 146,000 US troops in Iraq, down from nearly 170,000 at the end of last year.

Mr Obama insisted the United States could safely redeploy its combat brigades inside Iraq at a pace that would remove them from the country in 16 months after his taking office.

'That would be the summer of 2010 - two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began,' he promised.

'After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces.' The Democratic White House hopeful, who has practically assured his party's presidential nomination, said he would consult with commanders on the ground and the Iraqi government as his strategy is being implemented - and make unspecified 'tactical adjustments' if needed.

He did not specify that nature of these adjustments, but said US troops would be redeployed from secure areas of Iraq first and volatile regions later.

Mr Obama has been trying to draw a line between himself and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, who has made staunch support for the US troop 'surge' strategy a centerpiece of his campaign.

Opinion polls though seem to favor Mr Obama's approach.

A CNN/Opinion Research survey taken at the end of last month indicated only 30 per cent of Americans favored the war while 68 per cent opposed it.

When asked if they would like a president who would keep the number of troops in Iraq unchanged or a president who would remove most of them within a few months of taking office, 64 per cent said US troop numbers should be cut, compared to 33 per cent who thought they should remain the same. -- AFP