Maliki won’t sign security deal- paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will not sign the security agreement that is scheduled to take place with the United States for fears of divisions among political blocs and in the country as a whole, McClatchy Newspapers said in a report on Saturday. “For this matter, we need national consensus,” the McClatchy Newspapers quoted Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer, the deputy head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, as saying in reference to the agreement. “Instead, al-Sagheer said, Iraq’s political leaders are thinking about seeking an extension of the United Nations mandate for the presence of U.S. troops that expires on Dec. 31. Russia, a member of the U.N. Security Council, had given Iraq a direct assurance that it wouldn’t veto an extension, he said, adding that it was likely to last between six months and a year,” according to the report. “Shelving the new accord would constitute a major setback both for the Bush administration, which has been seeking to establish a legal basis for the extended presence of the 151,000 U.S. troops in this country, and for Iraq, which gained notable concessions in the draft accord reached one week ago,” it added. “Ali al-Adeeb, the chief of staff of al-Maliki’s Dawa party, said Wednesday that the Iraqi parliament ‘cannot approve this pact in its current form’.” “Top U.S. military officials have warned of serious consequences should the agreement not be signed. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier this week that Iraq’s forces ‘will not be ready to provide for their security’ after the current U.N. mandate runs out. ‘And in that regard there is great potential for losses of significant consequence,’ Mullen said.” “Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told USA Today: ‘Without (a security agreement), we would potentially have to cease all operations’.” “Iraqis, however, are adamant that the accord must be open to further amendments if they are to approve it,” the report added. SS (S) 1