Sistani
Opposes
Iraq-US
Security
Deal
By Press
TV
09/07/08 "Press
TV"
-- - Iraq's
most senior
cleric
voices
opposition
to a
proposed
security
deal with
the US,
saying such
a deal would
threaten
Iraq's
sovereignty.
In a meeting
with Iraqi
national
security
adviser
Muwaffaq Al-Rubaie
on Tuesday,
Grand
Ayatollah
Ali Sistani
expressed
his concerns
over the
security
deal by
calling it
an excuse
that will
justify the
presence of
US forces in
Iraq.
Ayatollah
Sistani had
earlier
noted that
any
long-term
pact with
the US
should
observe four
key terms:
safeguarding
Iraqis'
interests,
national
sovereignty,
national
consensus,
and
parliament
approval.
On Monday,
Iraqi Prime
Minister
Nouri al-Maliki
suggested a
timetable
for the
departure of
US forces
from Iraq.
However,
Washington
played down
calls for a
firm
withdrawal
deadline,
saying any
pullout will
be based on
the
conditions
on the
ground.
"We're
looking at
conditions,
not
calendars
here," State
Department
spokesman
Gonzalo
Gallegos
said on
Tuesday.
Baghdad and
Washington
are
negotiating
a treaty
that would
allow the
American
troops to
stay in Iraq
after their
mandate
under the UN
expires in
December
2008.
The
controversial
security
deal has
faced fierce
opposition
from Iraqi
religious
and
political
figures who
believe the
deal would
turn the
country into
a US colony.
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