IAF will not support pact – al-Dulaimi

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Head of the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) Adnan al-Dulaimi on Monday said that the front has reservations on some of the security agreement’s articles, noting that the Sunni bloc will not support it. Speaking at a press conference held at the Parliament on Monday, al-Dulaimi said “the reservations focus on releasing detainees from the U.S. jails and not to release them from the U.S. prisons to detain them in Iraqi jails.” He accused the government of controlling the decisions without consulting other political components. Al-Dulaimi supported the article related to the withdrawal of foreign troops by 2011, demanding a referendum on the agreement to accept or reject it. The Iraqi cabinet had endorsed the controversial pact, also known as the status-of-forces agreement (SOFA), by an overwhelming majority of 27 votes to 1. The Iraqi and U.S. sides have been negotiating a long-term security deal during the past months. The pact should determine the legal framework for the U.S. presence in Iraq after the end of this year, when the international mandate granted by the UN Security Council to the U.S. army to intervene in Iraq is due to expire. SH (S)/SR 1