Talabani : Iraq ready to handle security after US troop withdrawal

Iraqi security forces are "capable and efficient" to take over security responsibility once the United States has withdrawn its forces later this year, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Friday. Talabani told the UN General Assembly that the US withdrawal will instead "promote the Iraqi national abilities to keep its gains achieved in the new Iraq." US President Barack Obama in an address to the assembly on Wednesday said US troops will complete the withdrawal as scheduled in December. Talabani also asked his neighbours Turkey and Iran to use "diplomacy and positive dialogue" to solve problems related to the Kurdish region. Ethnic Kurds live in northern Iraq as well as in Turkey and Iran.