Iraq insists
on U.S.
withdrawal
timetable:
official
By Ahmed
Rasheed and
Mohammed
Abbas
08/07/08 -
-BAGHDAD
(Reuters) -
Iraq will
not accept
any security
agreement
with the
United
States
unless it
includes
dates for
the
withdrawal
of foreign
forces, the
government's
national
security
adviser said
on Tuesday.
The comments
by Mowaffaq
al-Rubaie
underscore
the
U.S.-backed
government's
hardening
stance
toward a
deal with
Washington
that will
provide a
legal basis
for U.S.
troops to
operate when
a U.N.
mandate
expires at
the end of
the year.
On Monday,
Prime
Minister
Nuri al-Maliki
appeared to
catch
Washington
off-guard by
suggesting
for the
first time
that a
timetable be
set for the
departure of
U.S. forces
under the
deal being
negotiated,
which he
called a
memorandum
of
understanding.
Rubaie said
Iraq was
waiting
"impatiently
for the day
when the
last foreign
soldier
leaves
Iraq."
"We can't
have a
memorandum
of
understanding
with foreign
forces
unless it
has dates
and clear
horizons
determining
the
departure of
foreign
forces.
We're
unambiguously
talking
about their
departure,"
Rubaie said
in the holy
Shi'ite city
of Najaf.
He was
speaking to
reporters
after
meeting
Iraq's top
Shi'ite
cleric,
Grand
Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani.
Rubaie said
he spoke to
Sistani
about the
U.S. talks,
but did not
say if the
cleric had
an opinion
on the
negotiations.
The revered
cleric is
routinely
briefed on
key national
issues.
"I informed
the
(clerical
leaders)
about some
of the
advances in
the talks.
There are
real
problems and
difficulties,
and we have
many
roadblocks
ahead. There
is a big
difference
in outlook
between us
and the
Americans,"
Rubaie said.
The Bush
administration
has always
opposed
setting any
withdrawal
timetable,
saying it
would allow
militant
groups to
lie low and
wait until
the 150,000
U.S. troops
in Iraq
left.
On Tuesday
the White
House said
the talks
were not
aimed at
setting a
hard
deadline for
withdrawal.
"Negotiations
and
discussions
are ongoing
every day,"
White House
spokesman
Gordon
Johndroe
said in
Japan, where
President
George W.
Bush is
attending a
Group of
Eight
summit.
"It is
important to
understand
that these
are not
talks on a
hard date
for a
withdrawal."
PARLIAMENT
HICCUP
In a further
complication,
Iraq's
deputy
parliament
speaker
Khalid al-Attiya
said
lawmakers
must approve
any deal the
Iraqi
government
reaches and
will
probably
reject the
document if
American
troops are
immune from
Iraqi law.
It would be
virtually
unthinkable
for the
United
States to
allow its
soldiers to
be subject
to Iraqi
law.
Maliki's
preference
for a
memorandum
of
understanding,
which could
be an
attempt to
bypass
parliament,
is in
contrast to
earlier
talks which
have all
been leading
to the
signing of a
formal
Status of
Forces
Agreement
(SOFA).
"Without
doubt, if
the two
sides reach
an
agreement,
this is
between two
countries,
and
according to
the Iraqi
constitution
a national
agreement
must be
agreed by
parliament
by a
majority of
two thirds,"
Attiya told
Reuters in
an
interview.
Washington
has SOFA
pacts with
many
countries,
and they
typically
exempt U.S.
troops from
facing trial
or prison
abroad.
Iraq said
last week
Washington
was showing
flexibility
on some key
issues,
which
officials
said
included
dropping a
demand for
immunity for
private
contractors
working for
the U.S.
government.
Control of
military
operations
and airspace
are other
points of
contention,
along with
the
detention of
prisoners.
(Additional
reporting by
Khaled
Farhan in
Najaf and
Jeremy
Pelofsky in
Toyako,
Writing by
Dean Yates,
Editing by
Catherine
Evans)
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