Iraq clears way for US troops to stay for three more years

IRAQ'S parliament yesterday approved a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in the country for three more years, setting a clear timetable for a US exit for the first time since the 2003 invasion.

The vote in favour of the pact was backed by the ruling coalition's Shiite and Kurdish blocs as well as the largest Sunni Arab bloc, which had demanded concessions for supporting the deal. The haggling among the political factions highlighted sectarian-based tensions that hinder reconciliation efforts, nearly six years after Saddam Hussein's fall.

The Shiite bloc agreed to a Sunni demand that the pact be put to a referendum by 30 July, meaning the deal must undergo an additional hurdle next year. It took nine months of difficult talks for US and Iraqi negotiators to craft the settlement.

Under the agreement, US forces will withdraw from Iraqi cities by 30 June and the entire country by 1 January, 2012. Iraq will have strict oversight over US forces.

MPs voted with a show of hands, and an exact breakdown of the parliamentary vote was not immediately available. But parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said an "overwhelming majority" of MPs who attended the session voted in favour.

Parliament's secretariat, who counted MPs as they entered the chamber, said 220 out of 275 legislators attended.

"This is a historic day for parliament," said deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a close ally of the prime minister Nouri al- Maliki. "More than three-quarters of those present at today's session voted for the agreement, and that was not expected."

Mr Maliki appeared to have won the comfortable majority that he sought in order to give the agreement additional legitimacy.

The country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had indicated that the deal would be acceptable only if passed by a comfortable majority.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman urged those who opposed the agreement to accept the decision by the parliament.

"Iraqis should now feel that they have the control and they have to take the full responsibility" for security, he said. "Even those who reject this share the responsibility in order to reform the country and in order to stabilise the country."

Sunni MPs, whose group dominated Iraq under Saddam but now struggles for influence with the Shiite-led government, said they were reluctant to support the security deal. "Our conditional approval does not mean that we do not have reservations on many causes mentioned in the agreement and we do not have fear about the future implementation of the agreement," said MP Salim Abdullah, who is also a spokesman for the largest Sunni bloc in parliament, the 44-seat Iraqi Accordance Front.

A bloc of 30 MPs loyal to the anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who wants US forces to leave Iraq immediately, chanted protests and hoisted banners that said "No, no to the agreement" during the 25-minute session. "We offer our condolences to the Iraqi people for this humiliating pact and will continue our popular rejection of it," said Sheik Hazim al-Aaraji, an aide to Sadr.


Baghdad controls American troops

FOR the first time since United States-led forces invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, Iraq's government will have control over the 150,000 US troops operating there. American troops will no longer be able to raid houses, kill or capture suspected militants, or drop bombs, unless Iraqi authorities approve their missions.

The US military will also have to hand over the estimated 16,000-17,000 prisoners they hold to the Iraqi authorities.

Washington must withdraw every last US soldier by the end of 2011. But the last US soldier could conceivably leave earlier, if the security situation in the country allows for it.

Violence has fallen to some of its lowest levels since after the invasion. Sunni tribal leaders have joined US forces to rout al-Qaeda militants. The once powerful Mahdi army militia of Muqtada al-Sadr has been disbanded – for now.

But US commanders stress all these gains are fragile and could be reversed if Iraq does not continue with progress towards reconciliation between feuding factions. Militants still carry out lethal bomb attacks across Iraq every day.