Quintuple meeting discusses security pact with U.S.

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, his two deputies, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdistan’s President Massoud Barzani on Thursday discussed the articles of the long-term security agreement with U.S. , a presidential statement said on Friday. “The meeting discussed the clauses of the security agreement before presenting it to the meeting of the political council of the national security as representatives of political blocs will discuss it,” said the statement received by IraqiNews.com. American and Iraqi negotiators have been working for most of this year to hammer out an agreement setting down rules for the U.S. military mission beginning next year. The major obstacle has been jurisdiction over U.S. troops. The United States had demanded exclusive right to prosecute U.S. troops for offenses committed here. The Iraqis had insisted on the right to try Americans – at least in offenses committed off American bases. SH (P) 1