tagged w/ Iraq-US Security Pact
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Adam Ashton: A national referendum on the pact will allow Iraqi's to see if the agreement works for them.
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years. The deal must now be ratified by the Presidential Council, whose approval is expected. Under the deal, US forces must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 and the entire country by January 1, 2012. With an english version of the agreement still to be released, experts claim there may be a dispute over the interpretation of certain parts of the pact. It is for this reason, among others that McClatchy journalist Adam Ashton believes that "some of the other parties have urged for a referendum" on the deal.
Adam Ashton is a journalist for McClatchy Newspapers currently based in Baghdad, Iraq.Adam Ashton: A national referendum on the pact will allow Iraqi's to see if the... more
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The Guardian: Iraqis offer differing reactions to the security pact with United States.
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Vote postponed until Thursday; legislators call for pact to be dependent on national referendum in 2009.
The parliamentary vote on the US-Iraq security pact was postponed on Wednesday. Delayed until Thursday the security pact has undergone several drafts in an attempt to keep various political factions on board and to push it through parliament with a respectable majority. The proposed deal would require US troops to withdraw from Iraq cities by the end of June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011. It would also give Iraq jurisdiction and supervision of US Forces. However intense political wrangling continues to stall the vote. Parliamentary MPs decided to make the pact dependent on a national referendum to be held in 2009. The decision to hold a referendum next year could set Baghdad on a collision course with Washington as the UN mandate governing international forces in Iraq expires on December 31.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 27, 2008: Iraq's parliament today approved by a wide margin a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years. The vote in favour of the pact was backed by the ruling coalition's Shiite and Kurdish blocs as well as the largest Sunni Arab bloc, which had demanded concessions for supporting the deal.
The Real News will provide a full update over the coming days.Vote postponed until Thursday; legislators call for pact to be dependent on national... more
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Adam Asher: There is concern whether al-Sadr will call off his ceasefire if the pact passes parliament.
With the proposed US Iraqi Security pact due to be voted on by the Iraqi parliament on November 24th. Thousands of followers of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr converged on a central Baghdad square for a mass prayer, to protest the status of forces agreement. McClatchy correspondent Adam Asher who was on the scene says what concerns people is "whether Muqtada al-Sadr will call off his cease fire if the [status of forces agreement] passes Parliament.
Adam Asher is a journalist for McClatchy Newspapers currently based in Baghdad, Iraq
Related Story:
http://current.com/items/89549177/iraq_us_security_pact_bitter_battles_ahead.htmAdam Asher: There is concern whether al-Sadr will call off his ceasefire if the pact... more
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Leila Fadel: Iraq deal will NOT allow residual forces, but opponents say too many loopholes.
Hundreds of Iraqi residents took to the streets on Wednesday in support of the Iraq-US Security pact. The Iraqi government agreed on Sunday to keep US troops in the country for three more years, although it is conditional on approval from the Iraqi parliament later this month. McClatchy Baghdad bureau chief Leila Fadel states that she "sees a a lot of bitter battles once this agreement is put into place."
Leila Fadel is McClatchy's Baghdad Bureau Chief. She has covered the war in Iraq for Knight Ridder and now McClatchy on and off since June 2005, as well as the 34-day war in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel in the summer of 2006. Prior to joining the McClatchy team she worked at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as a crime and higher education reporter. Fadel graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2004 and has lived in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. She speaks conversational Arabic. She was named print journalist of the year by the Houston Press Club for her work in 2005 and won a Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club in 2006 for her portfolio of work. Her Iraq reporting won her Print Journalist of the Year honors from the Houston Press Club citing her work from "Bedford (Texas) to Baghdad."
Related Stories:
http://current.com/items/89534152/un_mandate_for_us_troops_in_iraq_running_out.htm
and following parts.
http://current.com/items/89554094/sadrists_protest_us_iraq_security_pact.htmLeila Fadel: Iraq deal will NOT allow residual forces, but opponents say too many... more
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