NOURI al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, yesterday raised the prospect of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops as part of negotiations over a new security agreement with Washington.
It is the first time the US-backed Shiite-led government has floated the idea of a timetable for the removal of American forces from Iraq. The Bush administration has always opposed such a move, saying it would give militant groups an advantage.
T
he security deal under negotiation will replace a UN mandate for the presence of US troops that expires on 31 December.
"Today, we are looking at the necessity of terminating the foreign presence on Iraqi lands and restoring full sovereignty," Mr Maliki told Arab ambassadors in blunt remarks during an official visit to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
"One of the two basic topics is either to have a memorandum of understanding for the departure of forces or a memorandum of understanding to set a timetable for the presence of the forces, so that we know (their presence] will end in a specific time."
Mr Maliki was responding to questions from the ambassadors about the security negotiations with the US. The exchange was shown on Iraqi state television.
US officials in Baghdad had no immediate comment. Last month Mr Maliki caught Washington off guard when he said talks on the security deal were at a "dead end" after he complained Iraq's sovereignty was being infringed by US demands.
Both sides later said progress was being made.
Mr Maliki said the Iraqi and US positions had got closer, but added: "We cannot talk about reaching an agreement yet."
He said foreign forces would need Iraqi permission for many of their activities once the UN mandate ended.
"This means the phenomenon of unilateral detention will be over, as well as unilateral operations and immunity," he said.
Mr Maliki did not clarify who the immunity referred to.
Officials have said contractors working for the US government would lose immunity from Iraqi law, but Washington is highly unlikely to let the same thing happen to US solders.
Mr Maliki, dismissed as weak and ineffective for most of his tenure since taking over as prime minister in May 2006, has been increasingly assertive in recent months.
He has launched crackdowns on Shiite militias and al-Qaeda, with US forces playing a mainly supporting role.
He has also called on Arab states to re-engage with Iraq.
Sunni Arab countries have long been reluctant to extend full legitimacy to the Iraqi government because of the US presence, as well as Baghdad's close ties to Shiite Iran.
But Arab ties have begun to improve. The United Arab Emirates has cancelled almost $7 billion of debt owed by Baghdad, officials said on Sunday. And Jordan's King Abdullah is expected to visit Baghdad this week, the first Arab leader to do so since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Mr Maliki did not specifically refer to the 150,000 American troops in Iraq, but they comprise the vast bulk of foreign forces in the country.
He indicated the memorandum of understanding would be used instead of the formal Status of Forces Agreement (SoFA) being negotiated. The memorandum of understanding could be a stop-gap measure given some of the difficulties getting a full SoFA deal in place.
Iraqi officials had said they would submit any SoFA to parliament, where it might be subject to long and bitter debate.
Mr Maliki has long come under pressure from the movement of powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces. Sadr's movement quit Mr Maliki's government last year when the prime minister refused to do so.
Luwaa Sumaisem, the head of the Sadr bloc's political committee, welcomed Maliki's comments on a possible timetable. "This is a step in the right direction and we are ready to support him in this objective. We hope Maliki will show seriousness about it," he said, without saying if the movement might consider rejoining the government.
Washington and Baghdad are also negotiating a separate long-term agreement on political, economic and security ties.
After five years in Iraq, the Bush administration had set an end-July target for wrapping up the negotiations. Some Iraqi officials had questioned whether the deadline could be met.
Found – the flash cars of dictator's ruthless sonCAR lovers in Iraq, tired of an endless parade of Humvees, were given a bit of a treat yesterday, after police discovered five fancy vehicles – each a tad dusty – once owned by a notorious son of the former dictator Saddam Hussein.
The cars, including two Rolls-Royces, had been stolen from Uday Hussein's palace during looting after the US-led invasion in 2003. For years, they were buried beneath the dirt of an orchard in Baghdad's Dora district. A group planned to smuggle the cars out of the country and sell them.
But police learned of the plan through a tip-off. One officer told how they followed large lorries into the orchard to find the spot where the cars were buried, and then arrested three people.
The cars, now in police possession, were shown to the media on Monday.
Uday Hussein and his younger brother, Qusay, were killed in a gun battle with US forces in the northern city of Mosul in 2003, a few months after the invasion.
Saddam's sons lived lavish lifestyles during their father's time in power. Uday, who was in charge of Iraqi sports, was accused of punishing poor performances with torture or prison.
Despite that, many Iraqis now consider the two sons to be martyrs for fighting back against US forces during the gun battle that killed them.
The full article contains 958 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
