Iraq and the United States have agreed that a planned security pact will require all US troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday.
"There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date, which is the end of 2011, to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil," Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
"Yes, there is major progress on the issue of the negotiations on the security deal," Maliki said. The Iraqi government has said it is proposing US troops end patrols of Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year, and that US combat troops leave Iraq by 2011. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a visit to Baghdad last week that a deal was close but not yet final on a pact which will govern the presence of US troops in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires this year.
The Bush administration has sought to steer clear of fixed timetables, but Maliki's Shia-led government has been increasingly assertive in seeking assurances surrounding the exit of the approximately 144,000 US troops stationed in Iraq. Maliki said that no agreement would be signed that did not respect Iraqi sovereignty, and said any deal would need to include a "specific date, not an open one" for withdrawal. "An open time limit is not acceptable in any security deal that governs the presence of the international forces," he said.
Maliki also said no foreigners would be given full legal immunity. Washington is seeking to avoid allowing its soldiers to be tried in Iraqi courts. "We will not accept to put the lives of our sons on the line by guaranteeing absolute immunity for anybody, whether Iraqis or foreigners," Maliki said. "The sanctity of Iraqi blood should be respected." Iraqi officials say a draft agreement was completed last week and must now be circulated to political leaders for approval before it can be submitted to parliament next month.
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