The United States asked Iraq for permission to maintain a troop presence there to 2015, but US and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit authorisation to 2011, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said. "It was a US proposal for the date which is 2015, and an Iraqi one which is 2010, then we agreed to make it 2011," Talabani said in an interview with al-Hurra TV, a transcript of which was posted on his party's website on Wednesday.
"Iraq has the right, if necessary, to extend the presence of these troops," he said. Details have been slowly emerging about negotiations for the anticipated bilateral pact, which will provide a legal basis for US troops to remain in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year. US officials stressed that the negotiations, although close to conclusion, continue, and declined comment on the specifics of Talabani's statements.
"As we've said, negotiations are ongoing and we are not going to get into the details until an agreement is concluded," an embassy official in Baghdad said. Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that the two sides had accepted the end of 2011 as an end date for the presence of the approximately 145,000 US troops stationed in Iraq.
Iraqi officials had previously spoken of their desire to end routine US patrols of Iraqi cities and towns by the middle of 2009. "We hope that there will be flexibility and understanding from the two parties in order to reach an agreement," Maliki said on state television on Wednesday.
The Iraqi government has been seeking assurances not only on a gradual drawdown of US military activities in Iraq but also on barring foreign troops from full legal immunity. Washington has been reluctant to embrace fixed timetables for withdrawal and is unlikely to agree to allow Iraq to try US soldiers in its own law courts. The emerging points of agreement reflect the increasing assertiveness of the Maliki government which, as violence drops sharply across Iraq, hopes to define the future of the US presence here.
They also reflect the political pressures that Maliki faces at home more than five years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. A final deal must be approved by the Iraqi parliament. In another sign of Iraq's growing confidence in its ability to handle its own security challenges, the US military said on Wednesday it would hand over control of once-restive western Anbar province to the Iraqi government within days.
Anbar was the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency against the US military and successive Shi'ite-led Iraqi governments and a haven for al Qaeda fighters. Terms of the future US troop presence in Iraq are under close scrutiny as the United States prepares for presidential elections in November. Democratic contender Barack Obama is pushing for a 16-month timeframe for withdrawal, while Republican John McCain has argued against a set timeline for removing troops.