Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Iraqis offer security deal changes to U.S.

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 29, 2008 at 8:13 AM

BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials presented proposed changes to the security pact on U.S troops strength to officials at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Wednesday.

The state newspaper al-Sabah indicated amendments were made to five articles, but provided no other details, reported KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the cabinet members changed the draft of the agreement, calling some of the amendments "fundamental and necessary."

Interior Minister Ali Baban characterized the modifications as "slight," and urged Iraq and the United States to demonstrate flexibility so the pact could be signed.

Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman, has said the United States would have difficulty accommodating changes to the draft, but stressed it was premature to say what action the United States would take without having seen or reviewed the amendments.

The "status of forces" agreement is needed for the continued presence of 154,000 U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate legitimizing their activities expires Dec. 31. Under a draft, U.S. troops would withdraw from Iraq's main cities by the end of 2009 and from the country by 2011. Iraqis would also gain legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops who commit "serious crimes" while off duty.

Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Father's Day: Celebrity dads The 2012 Miss USA competition Faces of the 2012 French Open
2012 MTV Movie Awards Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Notable deaths of 2012
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Lil Niqo arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Rapper Lil Niqo arrives at the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on June 3, 2012. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
Hey maybe college prepares you for more than a potential career, here are the 5 Ways College Accidentally...
Half naked woman tasered. The bottom half
Since Octomom will be stripping... let's help her come up with a stage name. (voting enabled)
Campers rescue puppy. And by "puppy" I mean "wolf cub". And by "rescue" I mean "remove from its...
Octomom to start stripper career at T's Lounge in West Palm Beach. Subby has been to T's Lounge,...
Amazing picture from the ISS, showing the Dragon capsule approaching the ISS with Vancouver Island...