BAGHDAD, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Immunity for any U.S. military trainers remaining in Iraq after a December deadline for withdrawal is unlikely, a Shiite lawmaker said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said immunity wasn't in the cards for any U.S. troops staying beyond the Dec. 31 deadline spelled out in the 2008 status of forces agreement with Washington.
The U.S. Defense Department had expressed reservation over the lack of an immunity deal, fearing its soldiers could wind up in Iraqi courts. David Mack, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told al-Jazeera last week that it was "the very strong view of the Pentagon" that U.S. forces should get immunity.
Ali al-Shalah, a lawmaker in the Shiite-led National Alliance, told the Voices of Iraq news agency that lawmakers weren't considering a debate on the issue.
"We have agreed that immunity will not be granted, although the U.S. side disagrees with this position," he was quoted as saying. "The choice is ours to find an alternate solution for training Iraqi forces."
Entifad Qanbar, a former Iraqi lawmaker, told Iran's Press TV that Iraqis opposed the immunity issue because the presence of U.S. forces in the country since 2003 was "plagued by problems and mistakes and misunderstandings of the Iraqi society."
