Vice US President Joe Biden Thursday said the United States will abide by Iraqis' decision with respect to the timetable of US troops' withdrawal from Iraq.

"Whatever the Iraqi people decide, we will abide by it," Biden told reporters, referring to the referendum proposed by Iraq that could change the US-Iraqi security pact inked late last year between Baghdad and Washington.

However, Biden said it is too early to hold the referendum, which may bring forward the deadline for the US troops' withdrawal, because a number of steps should be taken before the referendum.

Some Iraqi parliamentary political blocs rejected the security agreement last year during heated discussions, but later they agreed to pass it on condition of a referendum by the Iraqi people that would require all US forces to pullout within a year.

The security agreement, or the so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by the two countries, calls for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2009)