Iraq, U.S. working to agree pact by July deadline
BAGHDAD, June 18 (Reuters) - Iraq said on Wednesday it was committed to reaching a new long-term security pact with the United States by a July deadline, days after its prime minister said the talks were deadlocked.
The two sides are negotiating a new security deal to provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their U.N. mandate expires, and a separate long-term agreement on political, economic and security ties.
U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, in its final months in office, has set an end-July target for wrapping up the talks, but Iraqi officials have questioned whether that timetable can be met.
An Iraqi government statement said Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari had discussed with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney in Washington on Tuesday "the need to conclude" the long-term strategic framework agreement.
"Both agreed the importance of completing this agreement before the end of July to avoid any legal vacuum that may arise as a result of the U.N. mandate expiring," it said.
The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to oust President Saddam Hussein and still has some 150,000 troops in the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last Friday that talks on the long-term security pact were at a stalemate because of U.S. demands that encroached on Iraq's sovereignty.
The talks have sparked heated debate both in Iraq and in the United States, where Democrat lawmakers fear that any agreement could lock the U.S. military into a long-term presence in Iraq and bind the hands of the next U.S. president.
The Washington Post quoted Zebari on Wednesday as saying U.S. and Iraqi officials had reworded a proposed White House commitment to defend Iraq against foreign aggression in an effort to avoid submitting the deal for congressional approval.
The alternative being discussed would commit U.S. forces to "help Iraqi security forces to defend themselves" rather than to defend Iraq, it quoted Zebari as saying.
IRAQ OBJECTS
The United States has revealed few details of the talks, but Maliki said last week Iraq objected to giving U.S. forces freedom to detain Iraqis or to conduct operations independent of Iraqi control.
Another point of friction is whether U.S. troops and private security guards would have immunity from Iraqi prosecution under the new agreement, as the United States wants.
The United States has similar "status of forces" agreements with 80 countries, with provisions to protect U.S. soldiers from prosecution by a foreign judiciary.
Zebari told the Washington Post the United States had backed down on its demand for full immunity for U.S. civilian security contractors in Iraq.
Joint "commissions" would be formed to supervise U.S. military operations and detentions of Iraqi citizens, he said.
The controversy over immunity from prosecution stems partly from an incident in Baghdad in September 2007 in which guards working for U.S. private security firm Blackwater were accused of killing 17 Iraqis.
The shooting enraged the Iraqi government and triggered an investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that is still under way. (Reporting by Adrian Croft and Waleed Ibrahim, editing by Tim Cocks and Tim Pearce)
The two sides are negotiating a new security deal to provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their U.N. mandate expires, and a separate long-term agreement on political, economic and security ties.
U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, in its final months in office, has set an end-July target for wrapping up the talks, but Iraqi officials have questioned whether that timetable can be met.
An Iraqi government statement said Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari had discussed with U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney in Washington on Tuesday "the need to conclude" the long-term strategic framework agreement.
"Both agreed the importance of completing this agreement before the end of July to avoid any legal vacuum that may arise as a result of the U.N. mandate expiring," it said.
The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to oust President Saddam Hussein and still has some 150,000 troops in the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last Friday that talks on the long-term security pact were at a stalemate because of U.S. demands that encroached on Iraq's sovereignty.
The talks have sparked heated debate both in Iraq and in the United States, where Democrat lawmakers fear that any agreement could lock the U.S. military into a long-term presence in Iraq and bind the hands of the next U.S. president.
The Washington Post quoted Zebari on Wednesday as saying U.S. and Iraqi officials had reworded a proposed White House commitment to defend Iraq against foreign aggression in an effort to avoid submitting the deal for congressional approval.
The alternative being discussed would commit U.S. forces to "help Iraqi security forces to defend themselves" rather than to defend Iraq, it quoted Zebari as saying.
IRAQ OBJECTS
The United States has revealed few details of the talks, but Maliki said last week Iraq objected to giving U.S. forces freedom to detain Iraqis or to conduct operations independent of Iraqi control.
Another point of friction is whether U.S. troops and private security guards would have immunity from Iraqi prosecution under the new agreement, as the United States wants.
The United States has similar "status of forces" agreements with 80 countries, with provisions to protect U.S. soldiers from prosecution by a foreign judiciary.
Zebari told the Washington Post the United States had backed down on its demand for full immunity for U.S. civilian security contractors in Iraq.
Joint "commissions" would be formed to supervise U.S. military operations and detentions of Iraqi citizens, he said.
The controversy over immunity from prosecution stems partly from an incident in Baghdad in September 2007 in which guards working for U.S. private security firm Blackwater were accused of killing 17 Iraqis.
The shooting enraged the Iraqi government and triggered an investigation by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation that is still under way. (Reporting by Adrian Croft and Waleed Ibrahim, editing by Tim Cocks and Tim Pearce)
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