MP expects postponement of signing U.S.-Iraq security deal

IRAQ / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi lawmaker from the Parliament’s legal commission on Tuesday expected the U.S.-Iraqi agreement would be postponed due to the procedures that must be taken before the deal is signed. MP Khalid Shawani from the Kurdistan Coalition (KC) said “the decision to endorse the security agreement took a long time in order to pass the procedures for the security deal,” adding “the deal’s endorsement might be postponed until after the U.S. presidential elections.” The agreement provides for U.S. troops to leave Baghdad and other Iraqi cities by the end of June and fully withdraw from the country by the end of 2011 unless the government asks them to stay or further turbulence rocks the country.   It would also give Iraq limited authority to prosecute U.S. soldiers and contractors for crimes committed off-base and off-duty, limit U.S. authority to search homes and detain people and give Iraqis more say in the conduct of American military operations. “Three commissions would study the agreement upon presentation to Parliament for a first and second reading,” the MP noted. The three parliamentary commissions are foreign relations, security and defense, along with the Legal Commission. Earlier, Iraq’s government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said  the Cabinet decided on Tuesday to seek changes to a draft pact agreed with Washington to allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq until 2011. Political leaders from most parties withheld their support for the text at a meeting on Sunday, raising doubts that it could pass through Parliament without any amendments. AM (S)/SR 1