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| Iraq |
| Iraq MPs hold vote to allow UK troops to stay |
| 2009-07-13 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Lawmakers loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held up a vote on Saturday to approve a deal allowing British troops to remain in Iraq longer than previously agreed to help the local navy protect oil platforms. The deal would permit up to 100 British troops to remain beyond June 30, the withdrawal date set in a previously approved British-Iraqi security pact. A source close to deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya said that the session was suspended shortly after it began when lawmakers loyal to the cleric, who galvanized Shiite opposition to the U.S.-led foreign presence in Iraq, walked out before a planned vote on the deal. With no quorum, the session could not formally continue, but parliament is likely to take it up again at a later date. Aqeel Abdul-Hussein, head of the Sadr bloc in parliament, told reporters afterwards that Sadr supporters opposed any agreements backing the presence of foreign troops. The deal "is an extension of occupation forces which no noble person can accept ... We call upon our people to support us in this challenge," he said. Both Britain and the United States reached deals with the Iraqi government, which were approved by parliament, to allow their troops to remain in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expired at the end of 2008. The U.S. deal requires the withdrawal of the approximately 130,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. |
| Posted by:Fred |