Iraq opposes any clause letting U.S. stay after 2011-paper

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A leading lawmaker from the main Shiite bloc on Thursday revealed the Iraqi government wanted to delete any reference in a security pact with Washington to the possibility of U.S. troops staying in Iraq after 20011, the International Herald Tribune said. The Iraqi government wanted to remove any mention of a possible extension of the American presence in Iraq from the agreement ,” the international paper cited MP Ali al-Adeeb from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) as saying. The controversial document which negotiators have labored over for months, is supposed to be in place by the end of the year to set new guideline for U.S. military operations in Iraq after the expiry of the present UN mandate. U.S. President George W.Bush on Wednesday promised to consider Baghdad’s proposed changes to the status-of-forces agreement (SOFA) but warned against shifts that risked “undermining” the accord. The draft pact, which triggered fierce opposition in Iraq, says U.S. forces will withdraw from towns and neighborhoods by the end of June next year from the whole country by the end of 2011. “We want joint U.S-Iraqi command and not just American forces to decide whether or not a soldier suspected of crime was on a mission,” the paper quoted al-Adeeb as saying. The recent version grants immunity from Iraqi law to American soldiers if they were on their base or on a mission when the crime was committed. The paper noted Iraq called for a major amendment by having the right to monitor and search American goods entering or leaving the country. The current text says Iraq will have no right to search when goods, equipment or technology belonging to the American army or its contractors is being imported, re-exported, transported, or in use. AM (I)/SR 1