Via VOA News -
Iraqi and U.S. officials have signed a pact to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq.
U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hashyar Zebari agreed Monday to an arrangement Mr. Crocker described as historic.
By calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraqi cities by June next year, and all American troops by the end of 2011, the pact overturns a long-standing U.S. policy against setting timelines for leaving the country.
The agreement would replace a U.N. mandate governing the U.S. presence. It is now being debated in Iraq's parliament, where it appears to have majority support.
Foreign Minister Zebari told VOA Kurdish Service he expects a decision within ten days, but cautioned it is too early to predict whether U.S. troops might stay in Iraq after the new mandate expires in three years.
If passed by parliament, the pact would give Iraq authority over U.S. military operations for the first time, requiring the U.S. military to ask permission to search homes, and banning American use of Iraqi territory to launch attacks on third countries.
It also gives Iraq some judicial oversight of serious crimes committed by U.S. soldiers while off-base and off-duty.
The pact comes after a year of often testy negotiations, and six weeks before the current U.N. mandate is set to expire. It also follows the transfer to Iraq of security responsibilities in many of its provinces as violence declined sharply over the past year.
The White House has said the pact - called the Status of Forces Agreement - does not need congressional approval.
It is opposed In Iran by radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his supporters in parliament, who denounced the cabinet's approval of the pact and are urging lawmakers to reject it.
Neighboring Iran has expressed skepticism that the pact gives Iraq enough protection from U.S. influence. But today, the head of Iran's judiciary was quoted in Iranian media as saying the Iraqi cabinet acted very well in approving the pact.
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