• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Conflicting Iraqi views about security agreement with US

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Baghdad, Nov 18, IRNA
Iraq-US-Security Agreement
Iraqi critics of a security agreement over American troops in Iraq voiced their objections after the Iraqi cabinet approved the pact and sent it to Parliament for ratification.

Opposition has created an unlikely association between the followers of the anti-occupation cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who rejected the agreement out of hand, and some Sunni politicians, including ones who support the deal but are trying to wrest concessions from the Iraqi government.

Ghufran al-Saadi, a Sadrist lawmaker, said opponents had collected 115 signatures, primarily from Sadr supporters and members of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, demanding that Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki and several cabinet members appear in Parliament to answer questions about the agreement on presence of American troops in Iraq through 2011. Parliament has 275 members.

The Sadrists argued that the ratification process was unconstitutional and threatened to take the issue to federal court.

They also claimed that the public reading of the agreement in Parliament on Monday was not legitimate because the legislative session was too noisy for anyone to hear what was being said.

Among the principal Sunni demands are amnesty for many Sunni detainees in American custody and a national referendum on the agreement.

The US officials acknowledged on Monday that the agreement still left some contentious issues vaguely worded, including the extent of Iraqi legal jurisdiction over crimes against Iraqi civilians in which American soldiers are accused.

Obama's transition office released a statement that did not directly address specific parts of the agreement but welcomed an extension of the legal authorization for American troops in Iraq beyond the end of the year, when the United Nations Security Council resolution covering the American-led military operation expires.

"President-elect Obama believes it is critical that a status-of-forces agreement that ensures sufficient protections for our men and women in uniform is reached before the end of the year," the transition office's chief spokeswoman for national security, Brooke Anderson, said.

"We look forward to reviewing the final text of the agreement."
**1416