Security pacts with U.S. does not violate Iraq’s sovereignty-Barazani

TEHRAN / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barazani on Wednesday said the proposed U.S-Iraq security pact does not violate his country’s sovereignty, conceding it is not a “typical” one. “The proposed Iraq-U.S. security deal does not violate Iraq’s sovereignty, although it is not a typical one,” Islamic Republic News Agency(IRNA) quoted Massoud Barazani during a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucheher Mottaki as saying. “The Kurdistan region’s stance on the pact is clear,” he said, stressing “there is nothing better than the current version calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops from cities by mid 2009, and from all of Iraq by 2011.” U.S. President George W. Bush and Maliki agreed last November to sign the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) in Iraq by the end of July, but it has been delayed. The proposed pact will decide the future presence of American forces in Iraq after the December 31 expiry of the UN mandate, which currently acts as the legal basis for their presence in the country. For his side, Iranian FM Mottaki emphasized the importance of “taking Iraq out of the UN seventh charter” putting Iraq under the mandate of the international organization. “The U.S. must not exploit this issue to implement its targets by holding Iraq captive to this mandate,” Mottaqi noted. The Iranian top diplomat highlighted the Iraq-U.S. security pact must be “negotiated inside Iraqi circles of the parliament, government and the national council for security.” “The decision made must consider the interest of the Iraqi people and the stance of religious authority on the agreement.” The pact, reached after months of negotiations, governs the presence of U.S. troops after their UN mandate expires Dec. 31. Copies of the draft, which became available, last week, sparked an intensely public debate among top politicians. It specifies U.S. troops must leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and be gone by 2012 and gives Iraq limited authority over off-duty, U.S. soldiers who commit crimes. The pact must be ratified by the 275-seat Parliament, which is riven by the narrow partisan interests, sectarian and ethnic divisions that have defined Iraqi politics since the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein regime. AM (I)/SR 5