Iraq deal to rule out permanent U.S. bases: Crocker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A planned agreement between Washington and Baghdad is expected to rule out permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq and will not tie the next American president's hands, the top U.S. envoy to Iraq said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker sought to reassure members of the U.S. Congress who see the agreement on U.S. troops in Iraq as an attempt to tie the United States into a long-term war there even after the Bush administration leaves office next January.

"Our troops will need basic authorizations and protections to continue operations and this agreement will provide those authorizations and protections," Crocker told the Senate's committee on armed services.

"The agreement will not establish permanent bases in Iraq, and we anticipate that it will expressly foreswear them. The agreement will not specify troop levels, and it will not tie the hands of the next administration," Crocker said.

"Our aim is to ensure that the next president arrives in office with a stable foundation upon which to base policy decisions, and that is precisely what this agreement will do," he said.

The United States has said it aims to have the agreement in place before the current United Nations Security Council resolution governing the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq expires at the end of this year.

(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by David Storey)