Parliamentarians say sovereignty – condition to pass security pact

Parliamentarian-Pact BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Parliamentarians from different political blocs on Monday stipulated that the security agreement with the U.S. must respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, ruling out signing it without the Parliament’s approval. “Realizing the national agreement is necessary for the signing of the security agreement with Washington,” MP from the United Iraq Alliance (UIA) Abdul Hadi al-Hasani told IraqiNews.com, ruling out that the government passes the agreement without realizing he national consensus on it. He ruled out the possibility of the government signing any agreement that touches Iraq’s sovereignty, noting that authorizing the Parliament to accept or reject the pact asserts the government’s intention to have a national consensus on the agreement. The MP said that the government will not respond to any kind of pressures, highlighting that the main point which got the agreement by all Iraqis is lifting immunity on the U.S. soldier on Iraq’s territory. Taha al-Lahiebi, MP from the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) said that his bloc would study the last draft of the agreement and give its opinion on it, noting that Iraq’s current status needs a country to protect it. For his part, Lawmaker from the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) Mouhsen al-Saadon told IraqiNews.com that the government is the only body who has the decision to sign the agreement. “The law and the constitution gives the government the right to sign international agreements,” he explained, explaining that the parliament’s role is to ratify them. T he Iraqi government had said it was considering the draft after a compromise was reached on the issue of immunity for U.S. military personnel and contractors. Any deal must be approved by the Iraqi cabinet, the three-man Presidential Board, and critically, by the Council of Representatives. The current UN mandate for U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq expires on 31 December. About 144,000 of the 152,000 foreign troops deployed there are US military personnel. The Iraqi government has publicly insisted on a clear timeline for withdrawal, and U.S. officials said the current draft included a timeline for US withdrawal before the end of 2011. It also wants to be able to prosecute U.S. troops if they committ crimes outside their bases while off duty or on unauthorised missions . SH (I)/SR 2