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Iraqi parliament approves US security pact

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-28 13:22

Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved by a wide margin a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years.

The vote in favor of the pact was backed by the ruling coalition's Shi'ite and Kurdish blocs as well as the largest Sunni Arab bloc, which had demanded concessions for supporting the deal.

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki appeared to have won the comfortable majority that he sought in order to give the agreement additional legitimacy.

Related readings:  Gates says US reluctant to alter Iraq troop draft  Iraq says US sought troop presence to 2015  Iraq sees hope of US troop withdrawal by 2010

Parliament speaker Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani said an "overwhelming majority" of the lawmakers who attended the session voted in favor of the pact by a show of hands. The parliament's secretariat, which counted lawmakers as they entered the chamber, said 220 out of 275 legislators attended.

A bloc of 30 lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, who opposed the pact, chanted protests and hoisted banners that said "No, no to the agreement" during the 25-minute session.

The deal must now be ratified by the Presidential Council, whose approval is expected.

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

The security pact meets an Iraqi goal of a clear timetable for the departure of American forces and has been described by Al-Maliki as a path toward full sovereignty for Iraq.

The vote had been delayed by one day because of sectarian-based disputes and power struggles among the political factions, which have hampered reconciliation efforts after years of war.

The Shi'ite and Kurdish blocs agreed to a Sunni demand that a national referendum on the pact be held by July 30. A vote against the pact at that time could torpedo the deal.

But the Sunnis did not get two concessions: the repeal of a law designed to weed out former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, and the dissolution of a special court that tried the dictator and top officials of his regime.

Agencies