Iraq and the United States said on Sunday that 12,000 US troops will go home by the end of September in a first step toward completing a withdrawal by 2011 under an accord signed between Baghdad and Washington last year.

"We don't pay attention to the speeches of US leaders about the withdrawal, and we call for the immediate withdrawal for all the American forces in Iraq," said Ahmad al-Masudi, the head of the pro-Iranian Sadrist bloc in parliament.

Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, and his movement, which draws broad support from poorer Shiites, has long been a staunch opponent of the US-led military presence in Iraq.

The US-Iraqi security agreement signed in November sets out a US troop withdrawal from towns and cities by June 30 and from the whole country by the end of 2011.

About 140,000 US troops are currently deployed in Iraq -- down from a peak of more than 160,000 during the "surge" offensive against insurgents and Al-Qaeda in 2007.

US President Barack Obama announced in February an end to combat operations in Iraq within 18 months, although the troop reduction will depend on conditions on the ground.

Details of his plan remain thin but counter-terrorism and training forces numbering up to 50,000 are expected to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011.

"Obama, who announced that he will withdraw fighting forces from Iraq means there will be non-fighting forces which will stay behind and we consider this a major security violation of the security agreement," Masudi told AFP.

Iraqi defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad al-Askari said the incremental reduction announced Sunday was according to plan.

"The withdrawal of 12,000 American soldiers from Iraq comes according to a plan and a programme agreed upon from the Iraqi government and the Multinational forces," Askari told AFP.

"Iraqi forces are today implementing the security tasks in a majority of Iraqi cities, and the multinational forces are training and giving the logistic support."

In addition to the US forces, 4,000 British troops will withdraw by July according to an agreement between London and Baghdad.

The decision to begin pulling out US troops comes amid a sharp fall in violence in Iraq although attacks by insurgents are still a daily occurrence.

Another key marker in measuring Iraq's fragile peace will be holding violence-free parliamentary elections at the end of the year. Iraq held relatively peaceful provincial elections in January.

"The (parliamentary) elections will be a major issue that is taken into account," US army Major General David Perkins said last week.

On Sunday a suicide bomber foiled heavy security at a police academy to ram his bicycle into a crowd of police recruits. At least 28 people were killed and 58 injured.

With overall violence hovering at its lowest levels since the US invasion of 2003, the US military now faces a new mammoth task -- packing up billions of dollars worth of equipment.

"There are always challenges in a logistics operation of this magnitude," US army lieutenant colonel Brian Tribus told AFP. "We look at it as an orchestra; it requires constant tuning and synchronisation.

"To the greatest extent possible, our forces will redeploy with their equipment. There may be exceptions where equipment is left behind," he said.

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