Iraqi cabinet seeks alterations to security deal

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: With the UN mandate governing the presence of foreign troops in Iraq approaching its end, Iraqi parliamentarians are seeking changes to the security deal that is scheduled to take place with the United States, The Los Angeles Times said on Wednesday. “Iraq’s Cabinet asked for changes to a draft U.S.-Iraqi security agreement Tuesday, once more casting doubt on the document’s speedy passage, less than three months before the U.N. mandate authorizing the presence of American troops in the country is to expire,” according to a report published by the newspaper. “The first Cabinet session to review the document revealed how divisive the security agreement has become. Only the country’s Kurdish bloc is publicly backing the current accord, while Shiite Muslim and Sunni Arab allies of the U.S. remain wary of endorsing the draft, which had been described by Americans and Iraqis as in its final form. The Iraqi side again called for more negotiations.” “In Washington, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told wire service reporters that the door to change was ‘pretty far closed’ and warned that failure to reach a deal or renew the United Nations mandate would mean suspension of U.S. operations,” read the report. “‘There is great reluctance to engage further in the drafting process’,” the newspaper quoted Gates as saying. “One Iraqi government official who attended the session said the Cabinet would start debating the suggested changes Sunday. He described the new objections as proof that the main factions in the government, particularly Shiites, are reluctant to risk their political future on an agreement that has been assailed by Iran and Iraqi cleric Muqtada Sadr, a rival to the ruling Shiite coalition,” according to the report. “The official heaped blame on Prime Minister Nouri Maliki for failing to put his weight behind the draft. The prime minister said a decision on the agreement belonged not to him but the government. Maliki told Kuwaiti journalists last week that he was not sure when the deal would go forward,” it added. SS (S)/SR 1