US-Backed Iraqi Parliament Approves US Forces Presence Three More Years

Pact creates worry to clergy – source

November 29, 2008 - 05:35:05
NAJAF / Aswat al-Iraq:

A source close to Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani on Saturday said that the clergy is worried because of the Iraqi-U.S. security pact, and for different reasons, explaining that the pact will be judged by Iraqis through a referendum next year.

“There was no national consensus over the pact, a matter that disturbs the country,” the source said in a press statement that was made while Aswat al-Iraq was present.

“The pact is incomplete and mysterious,” he added.

The source questioned “the Iraqi government’s ability to execute the pact,” considering U.S. pressures in this regard.
He also referred to preserving “Iraq’s sovereignty and funds.”
MH (P)/SR

Larijnai says plebiscite on SOFA “wise step”

November 29, 2008 - 01:05:33
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Ali Larijani on Saturday described the holding of a referendum on the U.S. troop withdrawal agreement as a “wise step.”

“The decision made by Iraqi parliamentarians with regards to the holding of a referendum on the agreement is a wise step,” the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Larijani as saying.

On Thursday, the Iraqi Parliament approved the security pact with the United States, also known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA), with a majority of 149 votes to 35.
SS (P)

Iraq’s Nasserites warn of SOFA passing “consequences”
November 29, 2008 - 12:32:16
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

The Iraqi Nasserite Socialist Party on Saturday warned of the “consequences” of passing the long-term security pact with the United States, appealing to “Iraqi national powers rejecting the occupation” to render the agreement a failure.
“The party condemns the agreement that is prolonging the U.S. occupation and warns of its grave consequences on Iraq’s destiny in particular and the Arab nation’s in general,” according to a statement by the party’s secretariat as received by Aswat al-Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament on Thursday had approved with a majority of 149 votes to 35 the security pact between Baghdad and Washington, also known as the status of forces agreement (SOFA).

The 35 votes that rejected the agreement were those of the Sadrist bloc, or members of parliament loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, plus six others who considered SOFA as undermining the sovereignty of Iraq.

The party considered the passing of SOFA as a “collective sin perpetrated by the voters, the absent members and the abstainers against the Iraqi people and the nation”.

The Nasserites are a party that found an example and a liberation ideologue in late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser.
AmR (P)

IAF leader says referendum clause in SOFA “significant achievement”

November 29, 2008 - 10:02:53
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

An Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) leader on Saturday described the addition of a referendum clause to the U.S. security agreement, approved by the Parliament on Thursday, as a “significant achievement.”

“We, parliamentarians, did not have the opportunity to make amendments to the agreement. Therefore, we have gone to great lengths to make the best of it,” Abdelkareem al-Samarraie told Aswat al-Iraq.

On Thursday, the Iraqi Parliament approved the security pact with the United States, also known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA), with a majority of 149 votes to 35.
SS (P)

4 committees to be formed to implement deal’s clauses – U.S. embassy

November 28, 2008 - 12:08:49
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

The spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Iraq said on Friday that the U.S. and Iraq will form four committees to implement the U.S. troop withdrawal agreement’s clauses after the presidential council ratifies it.

“The U.S. embassy is waiting for the ratification of the agreement by the presidential council to come into force as of January 1, 2009,” she told Aswat al-Iraq.

Regarding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities in June 2009, she said “the pact’s clauses are clear and U.S. forces will hand over the security responsibility to Iraqi forces according to the timetable and will withdraw all forces by the end of 2011.”

Only 198 MPs attended the important session of the 275-member assembly Thursday. 149 members voted in favor of the pact, while lawmakers from the Sadrist bloc voted against it. A failure to approve the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) would have put the Iraqi government in a dilemma, as they were to approach the UN Security Council to extend the deployment of U.S. forces after the current mandate ends this year.

The SOFA bill will become law once the Iraqi Presidential Council ratifies it.

Sadr orders to raise black flags in mourning for signing agreement

November 28, 2008 - 09:23:14
NAJAF / Aswat al-Iraq:

Shi'i Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday ordered his followers to raise black flags of mourning and to close his offices for three days throughout Iraq because of approving the U.S. troop withdrawal agreement, two Sadrist officials said.

Shaikh Muhanad al-Gharawi said at a press conference, attended by Lewaa Smiesim, “Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr ordered to raise black flags of mourning and close offices throughout Iraq to express sorrow over the signing of the agreement.”

November 29, 2008 - 04:03:26
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

President Bush’s “coalition of the willing” is set to all but disappear from Iraq by the end of the year, with 13 countries, including South Korea, Japan, Moldova, and Tonga preparing to withdraw their few remaining troops, according to the British newspaper The Times.

Britain, Australia, Romania, Estonia and El Salvador are the only nations, apart from the U.S., that plan to remain after a UN mandate authorizing their presence expires on December 31, writes Deborah Haynes in an article.

London must still reach an agreement with Baghdad, however, to keep its 4,100-strong contingent on the ground into the new year. Failure to do so in time would leave British troops without legal cover and they too would have to leave.
“We are going to say farewell to 13 different nations in the space of two and a half weeks,” said Brigadier-General Nicolas Matern, a deputy commander for Multi-National Corps Iraq, which oversees the U.S. military’s coalition partners.

“We started off with 35 countries but it has steadily been going down … As from December it is going to go all the way down,” he told The Times.

A farewell ceremony took place on Wednesday for 76 Macedonian soldiers. Another is due today for 86 troops from Bosnia and Herzegovina and a third is scheduled for South Korea’s contingent tomorrow. Others set to follow suit include soldiers from Albania, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania and Ukraine.

President Bush and Tony Blair scrambled the coalition together in the build-up to the Iraq invasion in a bid to put an international face on what was fast becoming an unpopular war. But the list of participants drew scorn for failing to include a greater number of powerful states, with the U.S. and Britain the main contributors.

The size of the outgoing contingents ranges from just 4 Lithuanians to 300 South Koreans. Many countries have reduced their presence over the past five years, but it has always been a fraction of the U.S. deployment, now standing at 146,000.

Bulgaria - with only 150 troops left in Iraq - has had forces south of Baghdad since June 2003, taking part in various operations, including patrols and guard duty. Thirteen Bulgarian soldiers have been killed and 81 injured in that time.
Lieutenant Colonel Valeri Kolev Valchanov said: “I think we have contributed somehow towards the stabilization of the country.”

Bulgaria’s troops are also preparing to pull out next month, a move that triggers mixed emotions for the Bulgarian officer. “I will never forget my friendships with Romanian soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers, Polish soldiers, American soldiers,” he said. “We were in dangerous conditions together and celebrated good moments together.”

Major Mario Ernesto Argueta is from El Salvador, which has 200 troops working on humanitarian projects in Wassit province, south of the Iraqi capital. He too believes that the efforts of a tiny contingent make an impact.

“It doesn’t matter how many we are, the most important part is that you made a difference, not for the whole country but for the person who got the aid,” he said.

El Salvador is one of four coalition countries - excluding the United States and Britain - which have been invited to stay in Iraq beyond the end of the year.

“The U.S. approached the Government of Iraq asking that we consider asking a few countries other than the United Kingdom to continue to provide some specialist forces for non-combat tasks after 31 December,” said Muwafaq al-Rubaie, Iraq’s National Security Adviser. “After considering the request, the Prime Minister agreed and those countries were invited to continue to assist us.”

Formal agreements will be made with El Salvador, Australia, Romania and Estonia once a long-awaited security pact with the United States, which was approved by Parliament on Thursday, becomes law.

Outside the coalition, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has 200 troops from 15 countries in Iraq, is also trying to finalize an accord with Baghdad to continue a training mission in the country beyond the end of 2008.
In addition, the United Nations has a number of Fijian troops working in Iraq.

While the coalition is dissolving, another force of foreigners is still thriving in the country: thousands of private contractors from developing countries such as Peru, Uganda, the Philippines and Bangladesh.
AmR (R)/SR

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