Washington: Republican candidate John McCain will today say that as president, he would get most US troops home from Iraq by 2013,for the first time setting a timeline to end the war.

The Arizona senator was also due to say in a speech that Osama bin Laden would be captured or killed, and that the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan would be greatly reduced under his stewardship.

"By January 2013,America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom," McCain was to say in a speech in Columbus, Ohio.

"The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension," McCain was to say, according to a copy of the speech.

McCain's comments appeared to be an effort to neutralise an attack by Democrats who argue he would be ready to fight a 100-year war in Iraq.

In his crystal ball speech, McCain was to say the Iraq of 2013 would still see violence, but it would be "spasmodic" and "much reduced," while the government was capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq with professional armed forces, McCain was to say.

By 2013 the US troops still in Iraq would not play a direct combat role, said McCain, who was a staunch supporter of President George W. Bush s surge strategy.

Looking ahead to the end of his putative first term, McCain also said he would have improved intelligence and counter-insurgency cooperation with Pakistan.

Source : PTI