Kurdistan president to head to U.S. over security deal

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region Massoud al-Barzani will lead a high-ranking delegation to the United States at the end of this week to discuss the security agreement that is scheduled to take place with Washington. “The visit comes at the request of the U.S. Department of State and will take a few days..,” the head of the region’s presidential office, Fouad Hussein, told IraqiNews.com. Hussein did not disclose the names of the delegation members, but said that they will meet with senior U.S. officials. Negotiations are currently underway between the Iraqi and U.S. government over a long-term security agreement that is expected to regulate the presence of U.S. troops when a UN mandate expires at the end of 2008. A declaration of principles was signed between U.S. President George W. Bush and the Iraqi premier in December 2007. The declaration was scheduled to be ratified on July 31, 2008 and to come into force as of January 1, 2009. The agreement governs the presence of U.S. forces in the country after 2008 and will not come into force without the approval of the Iraqi Parliament, which has 275 members from five blocs, in addition to the Sadrist movement and al-Fadhila party. The U.S. troops’ presence currently relies on a mandate by the United Nations and is annually renewed at the request of the Iraqi government. SS (S)/SR 1