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Iraq, US
Agree No Foreign Troops After 2011: PM
By Salam Faraj
25/08/08 "France
24" -- - Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki said on
Monday Washington and Baghdad have agreed there will be no
foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a timeline for a US
withdrawal from the war-torn country.
Maliki stressed however that despite "significant progress",
there are "still points of disagreement crucial to both sides"
in the proposed security pact that will decide the future of US
forces in Iraq.
The White House, too, stressed on Monday there was no final
accord with Baghdad on the controversial issue.
"These discussions continue, as we have not yet finalised an
agreement," spokesman Tony Fratto said as US President George W.
Bush was on his annual August vacation on his ranch in Crawford,
Texas.
A statement issued by Maliki's office quoted the prime minister
as telling a gathering of tribal leaders in Baghdad's fortified
Green Zone that accord had been reached on a timeline.
"There is an agreement between the two sides that there will be
no foreign soldiers in Iraq after 2011," the statement said.
Among sticking points still to be resolved, however, is a demand
that foreign troops stationed in the country cannot enjoy
open-ended immunity.
Iraqi and US officials have for months been negotiating the
controversial military security pact governing the presence of
foreign troops that will come into force once a UN mandate
expires in December.
Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmud Mashhadani poured further cold
water on the pact, saying Iraq's lawmakers would never endorse
it in its current form. The parliamentary stamp is a crucial
legal requirement.
"What I understand is that the Iraqi parliament will not pass
this agreement," the Sunni Arab politician Monday told reporters
in Jordan's capital, where he is recovering from surgery for
heart problems.
"At this moment the Iraqi government and parliament are not
ready for such a deal, which will face a lot of hurdles," he
insisted.
On Friday, the chief Iraqi negotiator Mohammed al-Haj Hammoud
told AFP that the security pact had been finalised by both sides
and had already been approved by Bush.
He said that under the 27-point deal all American combat troops
will be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by next June ahead of a
complete withdrawal by 2011.
Maliki's statement on Monday confirmed the date for a withdrawal
of US forces from Iraq.
The prime minister stressed that there would be no arrangement
that would compromise Iraq's sovereignty.
"We cannot sign an agreement unless it will preserve the
sovereignty and national interests of Iraq," Maliki said.
"Any foreign soldiers on Iraqi soil must have a specific time
frame and not be open-ended and Iraqi blood must be protected
and cannot grant full immunity."
Maliki insisted the process of finalising the deal would be
transparent.
"We assure you ... that nothing will be concealed and that we
are at the beginning of the restoration of our full rights and
sovereignty, and the aspirations of the agreement and security
arrangement will be presented to the parliament," he said.
Bush and Maliki had agreed last November to formalise such an
agreement by July 31.
The arrangement was delayed by strong opposition from Iraqi
leaders over issues such as a timetable for withdrawal, how many
bases Washington would retain and whether US troops would be
immune from Iraqi laws.
The deal has drawn sharp criticism from Iraq's political
factions, especially from the anti-US group of Shiite cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr.
The White House has said that US lawmakers would not be asked to
approve the pact. With 144,000 American troops currently in
Iraq, the issue is politically sensitive in Washington as the
November US presidential election draws nearer.
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