| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqis Agree to Put U.S. Troop Withdrawal to National Vote |
| 2008-11-27 |
| Iraqi lawmakers deferred until Thursday a scheduled vote on a security agreement that would extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq until the end of 2011 but agreed to put the pact to a national referendum next July. If voters reject the agreement, U.S. forces would have to leave the country by the middle of 2010, according to Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers. The referendum was a last-minute concession to Iraq's largest Sunni party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, which has long demanded a nationwide vote on the issue. "If there is no referendum, we will not vote yes to the agreement," said Omar Abdul Sattar, an Islamic Party lawmaker, speaking before parliament postponed the vote on the so-called status-of-forces agreement. Haider al-Abadi, an influential member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa Party, said lawmakers affiliated with the ruling coalition had "given guarantees to conduct the referendum and will comply with the result, whatever that may be." The Sunni bloc's 44 votes in the 275-seat parliament are insufficient to defeat the security agreement; Shiite and Kurdish parties already claim the simple majority of 138 votes required to approve it. But in accommodating the Sunnis, the ruling coalition is bowing to the wishes of the country's preeminent Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has said any deal should have the support of all of Iraq's parties in order to appear legitimate. |
| Posted by:Fred |