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Al-Maliki Seeking Security Accord

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The Associated Press

Published: September 30, 2008

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday that the government is ready to compromise to reach a security accord with the United States, because Iraq still needs American troops despite the drop in violence.

In an interview with The Associated Press, al-Maliki said neither he nor Iraq's parliament will accept any pact that fails to serve the country's national interests. A poorly constructed plan would provoke so much discord in Iraq that it could threaten his government's survival, he said.

Al-Maliki said, however, that he is firmly committed to reaching an accord that would allow U.S. troops to remain in the country beyond next year.

"We regard negotiating and reaching such an agreement as a national endeavor, a national mission, a historic one. It is a very important agreement that involves the stability and the security of the country and the existence of foreign troops. It has a historic dimension," al-Maliki said.

The Iraqi prime minister spoke at length about the difficulty he faces in trying to negotiate the accord that would set the terms for the U.S. presence in Iraq for years to come. Supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr oppose the accord, arguing U.S. forces should leave Iraq as soon as possible. Neighboring Iran also has spoken out vociferously against a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq.

If the talks fail, or if parliament eventually refused to approve the accord, the U.S. fallback likely would be to seek a resolution at the U.N. Security Council authorizing a renewal of the mandate for coalition troops to operate in Iraq. The current U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31.

"If we don't reach an agreement by the 1st of January 2009, the U.S. troops will have to remain in their bases, and then there should be a plan for a quick withdrawal," al-Maliki said.

"This would not be in the interests of Iraq nor in the interests of the United States," he said.

"Our need for coalition forces is decreasing - but it still exists."

DEVELOPMENTS

•Iraq has bought 12 new U.S.-built reconnaissance planes to monitor militants and the borders, the Defense Ministry said Monday, a small step in the country's attempt to reassert itself in air space now controlled by U.S.-led forces.

•In violence Monday, gunmen attacked a tribal sheik, Ahmed Salim, wounding him and killing two of his sons in the village of al-Rasoul in Diyala province, police said.

•In Baghdad, workers swept up broken glass and other debris from bloodstained streets, after a series of explosions struck areas in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 35 people.

•An American soldier was killed by gunfire during a patrol Monday afternoon in northern Baghdad.

Source: The Associated Press

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