BAGHDAD (Agencies)
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a landmark military pact that will see all U.S. troops withdraw by the end of 2011, ending the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and plunged the country into chaos.
After 11 months of hard-nosed negotiations with Washington and a flurry of domestic political horse-trading leading up to the vote, the pact was approved by 148 members of the 198 who attended the session of the 275-member assembly.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government succeeded in corralling a majority to support the historic agreement, including the main blocs representing the country's Sunni and Kurdish minorities.
The agreement was approved by the cabinet a week ago and is now virtually guaranteed to be ratified by Iraq's presidential council.
The United States hailed the passing of the agreement, saying it would "formalize a strong and equal partnership" in a statement from Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General Ray Odierno, the top commander of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Under the deal, U.S. troops will have to pull out of Iraqi cities and into bases by the middle of next year and leave the country by the end of 2011.
The measure would govern some 150,000 U.S. troops stationed in over 400 bases when their U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year, giving the Iraqi government veto power over virtually all of their operations.
It marks a coming-of-age for Maliki's government, which drove a hard bargain with Washington, securing a number of concessions over nearly a year of tough negotiations.
The accord has still drawn fire from certain quarters, including followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who reject any agreement with the United States and who protested at the accord in Baghdad last Friday. |
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Referendum The vote came after a flurry of last-minute negotiations in which the main Sunni parties secured a package of political reforms from the government and a commitment to hold a referendum on the pact in the middle of next year.
Should the Iraqi government decide to cancel the pact after the referendum it would have to give Washington one year's notice, meaning that troops would be allowed to remain in the country only until the middle of 2010.
Iraq won a number of concessions in the agreement, including a hard timeline for withdrawal, the right to search U.S. military cargo and the right to try U.S. soldiers for crimes committed while they are off their bases and off-duty.
The agreement also requires that U.S. troops obtain Iraqi permission for all military operations, and that they hand over the files of all detainees in U.S. custody to the Iraqi authorities, who will decide their fate.
The pact also forbids U.S. troops from using Iraq as a launch-pad or transit point for attacking another country, which may reassure Syria and Iran. |
