Lawmakers disrupt debate on U.S.-Iraqi security pact

Lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr oppose the agreement.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Lawmakers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday disrupted a parliamentary debate ahead of a Nov. 24 vote on a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that would keep American troops in Iraq for three more years.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani adjourned the session until Thursday after Sadrist lawmaker Ahmed al-Massoudi aggressively approached a lawmaker from the ruling coalition who was reading aloud the text of the agreement.

Al-Massoudi appeared to be on the verge of grabbing the document as lawmaker Hassan al-Sineid read it. Personal guards of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, seated next to al-Sineid, stopped al-Massoudi from reaching the bench.

The Sadrists oppose the agreement, which enjoys the support of the ruling coalition.

Thursday’s session was stormy from the start, with Sadrist lawmakers constantly trying to disrupt the proceedings. Al-Mashhadani was involved in several shouting matches with the Sadrists, who demanded that a draft bill regulating the adoption of treaties with foreign nations be adopted ahead of the debate on the security agreement.

The 275-seat legislature does not have much time to adopt the security pact, and the Sadrists’ tactic appears designed to take advantage of that to derail the agreement. Al-Sadr has a long history of conflict with the United States, launching several uprisings against U.S. forces since they occupied Iraq in 2003.

The legislature is expected to go into recess in early December for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. At that time, scores of lawmakers will travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, denying the house a quorum to debate or vote on the pact.

If the agreement is approved by parliament, it will go to the president and his two deputies for ratification. Each one — President Jalal Talabani and vice presidents Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashemi — has the power to veto the agreement.

Failing to adopt it will leave the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki no choice but to seek the renewal of a U.N. mandate under which American and other foreign forces operate in Iraq.