Posted by Tina
US troops to stay until 2011 – Reuters
* Baghdad – Washington and Baghdad have reached a final agreement after months of negotiation on a landmark pact to allow US troops to stay in Iraq until the end of 2011, US and Iraqi officials said on Wednesday.
The two countries also reached a compromise on the difficult question of whether US troops could be tried in Iraqi courts for crimes committed while deployed in Iraq, an issue that both sides had long said was holding up the pact. *** Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said the agreement envisions US forces withdrawing from Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year, and withdraw completely from the country within three years unless a new pact is agreed. *** “The withdrawal is to be achieved in three years. In 2011, the government at that time will determine whether it needs a new pact or not, and what type of pact will depend on the challenges it faces,” he told Reuters. *** On the question of immunity for US troops, he said: “Inside their bases, they will be under American law. *** Iraqi judicial law will be implemented in case these forces commit a serious and deliberate felony outside their military bases and when off duty.” *** The US official confirmed that a compromise had been reached on the immunity issue, but gave no further details. *** The pact still must be approved by a council of Iraqi political leaders, the Iraqi Cabinet and Parliament. *** Should they fail to approve it by the end of the year, Dabbagh said Baghdad will seek an extension of the UN mandate. *