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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Cabinet Urges Further Negotiation on Draft Accord |
| 2008-10-22 |
| BAGHDAD, Oct. 21 -- The Iraqi cabinet called Tuesday for reopening negotiations over a draft agreement to keep U.S. forces in this country beyond 2008, but U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates immediately expressed "great reluctance" about more talks. The apparent stalemate comes just 10 weeks before the expiration of the United Nations mandate that authorizes the presence of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Without a new legal agreement, "we basically stop doing anything" in the country, Gates told news service reporters in Washington. U.S. officials assert that Iraq is moving toward stability, after five years of violence that has taken the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,180 Americans. But while attacks have dropped significantly in the past year, insurgent groups are still active and political tensions are raw. |
| Posted by:Steve White |