Al-Maliki’s deputies urge parliament to approve security pact

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The two deputies of Iraqi premier, Burham Saleh and Rafeaa al-Eissawi, on Tuesday urged Parliament to approve the U.S. troop withdrawal agreement, also known as the status of forces agreement (SOFA), considering this as a reinforcment of Iraq’s sovereignty. Speaking at a joint press conference in Baghdad with al-Eissawi, Burham Saleh said “the agreement set up a strong relation which guarantees Iraq ‘s development and enables Iraq to face the problems it is suffering from,” stressing the importance of approving it. “The political blocs expressed strong interest in the security agreement, however they did not give any interest in the framework agreement,” Saleh added. “The cabinet discussed the agreement’s details and articles and voted on it unanimously,” he also said. He asserted that Parliament’s rejection of the security deal will push Iraq to the unknown. For his part, al-Eissawi noted to the continued meetings between political blocs and Iraq ‘s president to reach into an appropriate solution to the deal. He stressed that his vote to accept the agreement, came as a sense of responsibility as a member of the cabinet, urging the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF), which he represents, to reflect this responsibility by approving the deal in the Parliament. P arliament will hold a session on Wednesday to vote on the agreement after completing the first and second readings, as well as other discussions over it. The Iraqi cabinet last week had approved with an overwhelming majority of 27 votes to one the security pact between Iraq and the United States , also known as the status of forces agreement (SOFA), and was referred to Parliament for voting. SOFA should legalize the presence of U.S. forces on Iraqi territories after the end of this year, when the deadline given for a UN Security Council mandate for the U.S. army to intervene in Iraq is scheduled to expire. SOFA will replace a United Nations mandate governing the U.S. presence in Iraq , due to expire on Dec. 31, and has been agreed on by the Bush administration. Under the proposed agreement, U.S. troops will exit Iraqi towns and cities by the middle of 2009, and the entire country by the end of 2011. The law also curbs U.S. powers to detain Iraqi citizens and conduct military operations. SOFA had drawn wide-scale local popular and political controversy after the cabinet endorsed it on last week, particularly from the Sadrist bloc of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. In accordance with the Iraqi constitution, SOFA cannot be effective before the parliament approves it. SH (I)/SR 1