No agreement is expected to be signed with the current U.S. administration – Iraqi cabinet's spokesperson
by GottaDash Yesterday at 8:11 pm
BAGHDAD, July 14 (VOI) – The Iraqi cabinet's spokesperson on Monday expected that the long-term security agreement between Iraq and the U.S. would not be signed by the end of July 2008
He estimated that this issue would be postponed until a new U.S. president is sworn into the White House.
"There is a large possibility of postponing the signing of the long-term agreement between Iraq and the U.S., until a new U.S. administration is elected," Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).
"Both sides have not yet reached a final outline for the agreement's items," he said.
"The two countries delegations' involved in the negotiations for the agreement are still debating, yet there is no mutual agreement on the important items, such as timetabling the Multi National Forces' (MNF) withdrawal, how these forces operate in Iraq, and how operations are conducted by those forces in coordination with the Iraqi government," he added.
"Both teams aim at achieving the maximum benefits for their countries," he explained.
"The Iraqi team considers Iraq's sovereignty as a priority in the agreement's items, especially in the field of security," he clarified.
"The U.S. side in return stresses items that we may disagree with," he said.
"The Iraqi and U.S. delegations have disputed on the nature and time period required for the MNF to remain in Iraq," he added.
[size=15]"The U.S. side refers to a number of years, while the Iraqi side talks about short period and then depends on the abilities of Iraqi security forces," he noted.
"It is not important to sign the agreement on time (end of July 2008); the important things are the aims that the Iraqi government seeks to accomplish by signing this treaty with the U.S.," he asserted. [/size]
AI
