|
Baghdad: The United States asked Iraq for permission to maintain a troop presence there to 2015, but US and Iraqi negotiators agreed to limit their 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. Iraq has the right, if necessary, to extend the presence of these troops," Talabani said in an interview with Al Hurra television, a transcript of which was posted on his party's website yesterday.
US officials in Baghdad were not immediately available for comment. Details have been slowly emerging about negotiations for the bilateral security pact, which US and Iraqi officials say are close to conclusion.
Legal basis
The agreement will provide a legal basis for US troops to remain in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of this year.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said that, while overall negotiations continued, 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.
The emerging points of agreement reflect the increasing assertiveness of the Al Maliki government as it seeks to define the future of the US presence in Iraq.
They also reflect the political pressures that Al Maliki faces at home more than five years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussain.
Parliament approval
US officials stress that no final agreement has been made.
A final deal will need to be approved by the Iraqi parliament.
Meanwhile, the US military says an American soldier has died of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in northeast Baghdad.
A US statement says the soldier's vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb on Tuesday.
The soldier was rushed to a military hospital in Baghdad but died yesterday.
No further details have been released.
The latest death brings the number of American soldiers who have died in Iraq this month to 20. That's up from the 13 deaths suffered in July but still well below monthly tolls of a year ago.
|
