BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki took advantage of Barack Obama's internationally watched visit Monday to set a two-and-a-half-year timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Minutes after the Democratic presidential candidate met the Iraqi leader at his private residence, Maliki's spokesman, Ali Dabbagh, announced that Iraq wants American combat troops to leave by the end of 2010, a few months later than Obama has proposed.

The timing of a withdrawal from Iraq is a key election issue in the United States, where Republican candidate John McCain has advocated an indefinite American military presence, and in Iraq, which holds provincial elections later this year.

Dabbagh said Maliki and Obama didn't discuss specific proposals during the hour-long meeting. But he said Iraq would like to have all U.S. combat troops out of the country, leaving only advisors, some quick-reaction forces and air support forces behind.

''The Iraqi government sees that the end of 2010 is an appropriate date for the withdrawal of the forces,'' Dabbagh said.

Obama has proposed drawing down all combat brigades within 16 months after he'd become president, or roughly the spring of 2010.

His ''fact-finding'' mission, aimed at raising his credibility on top international issues, also provided Iraqi officials with the opportunity to show the population that they're committed to getting a drawdown date in time for provincial elections scheduled for the fall.

Obama flew over Baghdad with Gen. David Petraeus, the top American military commander here, and met with Iraq's president, the leading minority-party figure and U.S. troops.

As the security situation has improved, Iraqis increasingly are calling for the drawdown of American troops.

McClatchy special correspondent Jenan Hussein and Miami Herald staff writer Nicholas Spangler contributed to this report from Baghdad.

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