Baghdad - After months of controversy, the Iraqi parliament
on Thursday approved the security agreement with the United States
to set the timetable for a US forces pullout from the country.
Under the security agreement negotiated between Washington and
Baghdad, US troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of
June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.
The pact will be effective from the beginning of 2009 after the
current United Nations Security Council mandate expires.
'The agreement is a national achievement and a new era of self
governing and security,' said Iraqi government spokesman Ali
al-Dabbagh.
'There are no losers or winners, today we are all victorious. This
vote is a victory for democracy,' he added.
Some 144 lawmakers voted in favour of the security agreement,
clearing the hurdle of 138 votes needed for a simple majority in the
275-member body.
Around 54 lawmakers, including the anti-US Sadrists bloc which
has 30 seats in the parliament, voted against the agreement.
The session was marred by scenes of turmoil, with those lawmakers
opposed to the deal pounding their desks and shouting 'yes, yes to
Iraq' and 'no, no to the agreement.'
Only 198 deputies out of the 275 lawmakers attended the vote.
Meanwhile, some 149 lawmakers voted for a list of political
reforms that included adding more Sunni leaders to security forces
and freeing prisoners held in Iraqi jails.
Some Sunnis who had opposed the pact agreed to back it during last
minute negotiations. The Tawafuq Coalition and the Iraqi Front for
National Dialogue both decided to support the pact.
Strong supporters of the deal were the main Shiite governing
alliance and Kurdish parties. The two blocs were enough to pass the
deal with more than the required majority of 138 votes.
Lawmakers a day before agreed to pass the pact on condition of a
national referendum on the agreement in July 2009. The referendum is
to decide whether the security agreement with the US will continue in
Iraq, six months after its initial implementation.
'We are patiently waiting for the national referendum to come to
show the true feelings of the Iraqi people,' said Rawia Mahdi, 38, a
government employee.
An Iraqi taxi driver said that matters would be clear after six
months from implementing the deal. 'The national referendum will
reflect a 'mature' opinion, giving Iraqis the right to decide their
destiny,' said Amged Daoud, 35.
The deal that took nine months of intensive negotiations allows
Iraq the right to prosecute US soldiers under Iraqi law for actions
committed off duty. On duty soldiers are to be subject to US military
law.
In addition, the Iraqi government has assured that under the
agreement Iraq will not be used as a launch base for attacks on
neighboring countries.
In separate news, two blasts killed two and injured nine Thursday
in Baghdad. The first blast struck an army patrol in Qahera district
in northern Baghdad, killing a soldier and injuring another three,
police sources told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.
The second blast hit Milson Square in the New Baghdad district of
eastern Baghdad. One civilian was killed and six were injured, VOI
reported.
In Diyala, 18 women from a suicide bombing network turned
themselves over to US forces in Iraq, the US forces said.
The women, who had received training to become suicide bombers,
had reportedly been convinced by their fathers and local clerics to
stop their training and turn themselves in.
Terrorists groups have been using women to conduct suicide attacks
in Iraq as women are less frequently subjected to body searches.
Religious and cultural rules prevent predominantly-male security
officers from touching women while conducting searches.
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