Iraqis OK security pact with U.S.

November 28, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

According to the agreement, U.S. troops must leave Iraq by the end of 2011.

los angeles times

BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday approved a pact allowing U.S. forces to stay in the country through 2011 after winning support from skeptics by promising a public referendum.

Of the 198 Parliament members attending Thursday’s session, more than 140 held up their hands in favor of the Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA. The opponents were mainly lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Many of them did not vote “no,” instead preferring to make their opposition clear by chanting “No! No! No!” and banging books and binders on their desks as the vote was held.

The lawmakers separately approved a resolution calling for a referendum in July 2009, during which the public will get to endorse, reject or demand amendments to the agreement. The referendum was the key demand of Sunni Arab legislators who had refused to join the Parliament’s ruling Shiite Muslim and Kurdish blocs in approving the agreement without the referendum promise.

Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki needed Sunni votes to make the pact appear to enjoy widespread support. Sunnis, who command more than 60 seats in Parliament, had sought a host of other political reforms. They included the elimination of a special court to try former leaders in Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime who are accused of crimes committed on the regime’s behalf and the lifting of rules that limit opportunities for high-ranking members of Saddam’s ruling Baath Party.

Shiites and Kurds had balked at those conditions, and it appeared they were not part of the package eventually voted on Thursday. During the reading of the legislation, neither was mentioned.

According to the agreement, U.S. combat troops must leave Iraqi cities, towns and villages by June 30, 2009, and American troops must leave Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011. The pact will take effect Jan. 1, replacing the U.N. mandate governing the U.S. troop presence here. The mandate expires at the end of the year.

Al-Sadr loyalists and other critics of the pact denounced it as a sellout, saying it is worded vaguely and contains no guarantees to prevent the U.S. from extending its stay. The pact, while not explicitly stating that an extension can be sought, allows for amendments if both sides agree to them.

U.S. officials have indicated that they interpret that as permitting a possible extension, if security conditions in Iraq are deemed too shaky to leave Iraqi security forces in charge. “There is a provision for extension, by agreement of both sides,” one U.S. official said in discussing the pact.

Backers of the pact, led by al-Maliki and his allies, insisted the deal was the best option for Iraq under the circumstances and greatly would reduce the autonomy of American forces now in the country. They said the withdrawal dates in the agreement were firm.

Parliament had planned to vote on the plan Wednesday but delayed the vote until Thursday as the Shiite and Kurdish coalition struggled to win support from Sunni parties.

Even without Sunni support, the pact could have passed the 275-seat Parliament, but al-Maliki had made it clear that he wanted it to have broad-based support.

If voters reject the agreement in the July 2009 referendum, Iraq’s government would have to cancel SOFA or demand changes to it. The terms of the agreement allow either side to give the other a year’s notice of cancellation, so if Iraq scrapped the pact, U.S. forces would have to leave the country in July 2010.