U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama, speaks during a town hall meeting at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia, July 8, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

It was the first time for the Iraqi leader to publicly announced that he had demanded a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.

For his part, Obama told reporters in St. Louis, Missouri, that Maliki's remarks was in line with his own policy on Iraq.

"I think that his statement is consistent with my view about how withdrawals should proceed," the Illinois senator said. "I think it's encouraging ... that the prime minister himself now acknowledges that in cooperation with Iraq, it's time for American forces to start sending out a timeframe for the withdrawal.

He urged the current government and McCain who was considered echoing President George W. Bush's Iraq policy to listen to the Iraqi leader.

However, Obama, who has vowed to begin withdrawing all U.S. combat troops in Iraq in the first 16 months after he takes the White House, noted last week that he might redefine the Iraq policy after he listens to the military commanders in Iraq when traveling to the country later this month.

In response to Maliki, the White House said on Monday that the Iraqi government was not negotiating a "hard date" for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq but it did not rule out discussions on "time-frames" with Baghdad.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2008)