WORLD> Middle East
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Iraq, US eye troops withdrawal by end of 2011
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-23 08:57
The tentative agreement says that the US troops could overstay if the Iraqi government deems that as necessary. A joint committee would help define the duration and number of forces that would be needed and regularly assess the security situation in Iraq, CNN said. The US military can only detain Iraqis with the approval from the Iraqi side and the detainees should be handed over to Iraqi authorities within 24 hours after their arrests.
Iraq also wants to deprive foreign contractors of immunity. Demand is high in Iraq to remove that privilege from the contractors, who have been accused of excessively using force, notably the killing of 17 Iraqis on a Baghdad street by the guards of US security company Blackwater last September. The negotiations formally began on March. The two sides had planned to sign the agreement, along with a pact regarding broader bilateral relations, by the end of July to give the US troops a legal ground in staying here after the UN mandate on Iraqi operations ends at year's end. The talks ended up overshooting the schedule as Iraqi leaders were showing a hard stance in key points in the face of large pressure at home not to agree to any pact harming sovereignty and interests. US President George W. Bush wants to see the agreements signed within his tenure ending in January. With only about four months to go before the UN mandate expires, Rice traveled to Iraqi Thursday to give the process a push. Rice told reporters that Iraq and the US have agreed "that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold are well worth having in such an agreement." "The negotiators have made good progress. They are satisfied with where they are," she said without giving details of the agreement. A prolonged stay of the American force in Iraq is also an issue of heated debate in the US presidential campaign Republican presidential candidate John McCain endorses Bush's policy which opposes a quick withdrawal, arguing that such a move would cost the US a security gain in Iraq. While his Democratic rival Barack Obama says he will pull out troops within 16 months if he is elected, a policy similar to that proposed by Iraq. The agreement in question also raised concern of Iran, which fears that the US could use Iraq as a launching pad for attacks. On Thursday, Zebari repeated Iraq's stand that his country will not be used for military operations against neighbors.
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