UPDATED ON:
Thursday, August 21, 2008
11:46 Mecca time, 08:46 GMT
 
News Americas
US and Iraq 'agree on troops deal'
The White House has repeatedly resisted any timetable for withdrawing US troops [EPA]

The United States and Iraq have reportedly agreed to a draft deal to give US troops a legal basis to stay in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires in December.

A senior US military official told The Associated Press that Washington had signed off on a draft agreement on reducing the American military presence in Iraq but that the deal was not final and was subject to approval by Iraqi leaders.

However, the US state department told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that any report of an agreement was "premature".

The White House said that negotiations were still taking place.

"Discussions are ongoing with the Iraqis to finalise a bilateral agreement," Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said.

"We are working to complete the agreement, but it is not final yet."

On Thursday, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit, the office of Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said.

Details about the purpose of her visit were not given.

Iraqi officials say the deal is nearly finished, but the White House says it is not yet complete.

They say they want the deal to include "time horizons" for US forces to withdraw from the country.
   
Other issues that need to be sorted out include immunity for US troops from Iraqi law and the status of prisoners held by American forces.

Contentious issues

Al Jazeera's Tom Ackerman said that with Iraqis facing provincial elections in the next few months, al-Maliki will be facing pressure at home not to concede anything that will affect Iraqi sovereignty and to ensure a firm end date for US troop withdrawal is set.

But Mohammed al-Haj Hamoud, Iraq's negotiator on the deal, told the Reuters news agency that the draft reportedly agreed to does not give a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq  and does not say if US troops will be subject to Iraqi law.

At present around 144,000 US troops are stationed in Iraq, but Iraqi officials have said they would like any future deal to limit the US presence on Iraqi streets by mid-2009 and withdraw all troops by 2010 or 2011.

The US government has said repeatedly that it will not seek permanent bases in Iraq.

However, it has also resisted setting any timetable for the withdrawal of troops, although last month the US government began referring to "time horizons" and "aspirational goals" for such a withdrawal.

A timeline for withdrawing troops, their immunity from Iraqi law and the status of prisoners held by US forces have all caused repeated delays to a deal.

In May this year scores of protests against any such deal erupted in the capital, Baghdad, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iraqi Shia leader.

Alongside the possible draft deal is a parallel agreement, known as a strategic framework agreement, which covers a range of political, economic and security relationships between the US and Iraq, that The Associated Press said had also been agreed to.

 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Feedback Number of comments : 3
 
Zamir Ahmed
India
21/08/2008
US & Iraq troop deal
The Currept Americans will give the bribe to Shia leaders to buy Iraq for 20-30 years

Hui Yao
United States
21/08/2008
Since the conditions on the ground have improved the US is happy to start talking about troop reductions and eventually total withdraw. We have our own problems and once the Iraqis can handle things for themselves we will be overcome with joy. I am happy this might start to happen soon as the it would be a shame for O'bama to take full credit for ending the 'occupation/presents'. I can understand people being skeptical of our intentions. I hope we will be understood if Iraq blossoms again.

Charles Shaffer
United States
04/09/2008
US Iraqui Troop Deal
I believe the intention of the Bush administration is to occupy Iraq and use it as a base for further military action in the middle east in order to control the oil supply. US citizens have been convinced that violence has decreased because of increased US troop presence (it was due to the Iraqis choosing not to fight). So they are more likely to go along with troop increases if the deal falls through. It is important for the Iraqis to hold the line on withdrawal and immunity now.

 
ARTICLE TOOLS
 Email Article  Email article
 Print Article  Print article
 Send Feedback  Send feedback
 Share article  Share article