U.S., Iraq work toward SOFA progress

BAGHDAD, March 3 (UPI) -- A bilateral U.S. and Iraqi committee is ramping up efforts to execute provisions of the Status of Forces Agreement, officials said.

Washington and Baghdad agreed in November to a Status of Forces Agreement to govern the U.S. military presence in Iraq following the Dec. 31 expiration of the U.N. mandate for international forces.

Article 24 of the agreement says all American troops should pull back to their bases no later than June 30 and all military forces should be out of the country by Dec. 31, 2011.

Iraqi satellite channel al-Sumaria reports, citing Arabic media outlets, that Iraqi and U.S. officials have planned a series of 12 bilateral meetings to regulate that withdrawal and the subsequent handover of security operations to Iraqi forces.

Abbas al-Bayati, a defense official in the Iraqi Parliament, said lawmakers set up 15 committees to oversee the provisions of the SOFA.

The Iraqi developments come on the heels of statements from U.S. President Barack Obama, who said all major U.S. combat operations in Iraq would end Aug. 31, 2010.