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| Iraq | |
| Iraq okays US security pact with majority vote | |
| 2008-11-28 | |
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a landmark security pact with the United States that would pave the way for the US forces to withdraw by the end of 2011, taking the country a big step closer to full sovereignty.
It will make Iraqi police and soldiers increasingly responsible for security after years of bloodshed between majority Shia and Sunni Arabs. "The wishes of different sections of the Iraqi nation have been executed, and this achievement will turn a new page of Iraq's history and will consecrate its sovereignty," said parliament's first deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya. Lawmakers in Iraq's 275-seat parliament passed the deal with a majority of 149 out of 198 present, Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said. It was not immediately clear if the vote constituted enough of a consensus to satisfy the demands of Iraq's influential top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who had called for it to be supported by all of the country's communities. But the deal linking the security pact to other issues, such as the referendum, was agreed between the country's ruling Shia-led coalition, its Kurdish partners and two Sunni Arab factions that had been holding up the vote. The other issues agreed on related to speeding up the release of mainly Sunni detainees captured by the United States at the height of the sectarian violence, and working on a balance between the powers of government and security forces. The agreement was opposed to the last by lawmakers loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "The referendum is a lie to satisfy some parties with reservations," said one member of the Sadr movement, deputy Aqeel Abdul-Hussein. Under the deal agreed with the outgoing administration of President George W Bush, the US troops will have to pull out of Iraqi cities by the middle of next year and leave the country by the end of 2011. It replaces an expiring UN mandate. The deal gives Iraq authority over about 150,000 US troops in the country, makes US soldiers liable for some crimes committed when they are off duty, and reins in private security firms. It is expected to boost Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's prestige and stature, by allowing him to continue to call on the US forces to fight violence while at the same time taking credit for arranging their eventual withdrawal. | |
| Posted by:Fred |