Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, stepped up pressure for U.S. officials to respond to Iraqi proposals for a security agreement.
Any pact must be ratified by the Iraqi parliament by Dec. 31, when the U.N. mandate for foreign forces expires, and prolonged deliberations are raising concerns the year-end deadline won’t be met.
The prime minister also said the U.N. mandate would be extended only on Iraq’s terms, raising a possible alternative to an agreement.
“The situation on the ground indicates that we both are in a critical situation,” al-Maliki said Wednesday in remarks broadcast on Iraqi state TV.
Al-Maliki said the Americans had asked for two weeks to study Iraqi demands and that the time was up.
“Up to now, the U.S. team has not returned with an answer,” the Iraqi leader said. “There are serious sticking points.”
He insisted the Americans had agreed to withdraw all foreign troops by the end of 2011 but reiterated that the main obstacles were U.S. insistence that American soldiers should have immunity from Iraqi courts and Iraqi demands to gain control over U.S. raids and detentions.
In Washington, a senior U.S. official familiar with the negotiations, agreed that obstacles remained to an agreement.
The official, who declined to be identified in discussing the sensitive negotiations, stressed that no final agreement could be reached on a timeline for U.S. withdrawal until the issues of immunity and oversight are resolved.