Talabani urges Bush to agree on security agreement’s amendments

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called on U.S. President George Bush to agree on the amendments made on the security agreement between Baghdad and Washington . “Talabani held talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday on the new amendments on the security deal with Washington , calling on Bush to agree on these amendments,” a presidential statement said. Washington and Baghdad are currently negotiating a security pact that would decide the future of U.S. forces in Iraq after the present UN mandate expires at the end of this year. The UN mandate currently acts as the legal framework for the presence of foreign forces in the violence-wracked country. The U.S. and Iraq have been negotiating their own bilateral accord for months but have so far failed to seal the deal because of disagreements on whether American soldiers should be immune from Iraqi law when off-duty. SH (P) 1