Al-Maliki Alters Withdrawal Pact Team

At the "make-or-break" stage of talks with the United States on the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has swept aside his negotiating team and replaced it with three of his closest aides, a reshuffle that some officials involved in the discussions warn risks sabotaging the agreement.

The decision on the team negotiating the pact, which the Americans have described as the basis of a long-term strategic alliance between the United States and Iraq, remains so sensitive it has not been announced officially. In disclosing the switch to the Los Angeles Times this weekend, a senior Iraqi official close to al-Maliki also suggested the two sides remain deadlocked on key issues.

The shake-up comes just four months before the expiration of the U.N. mandate that authorizes the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.

The official insisted that if U.S. troops remained exempt from Iraqi rule of law, the pact would never pass Iraq's legislature.

The sides are still negotiating a withdrawal date for U.S. troops, the official said.

The latest version of the agreement, which was read to the Los Angeles Times by the al-Maliki confidant, says all U.S. forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2011, unless Iraq requests otherwise. The text also says the Americans will withdraw from cities in June 2009, unless the Iraqis ask them to stay.

The new wording marks a departure from the White House insistence on a conditions-based timeline for a U.S. withdrawal. Under the new language, Iraq, not the U.S. military, decides when the Americans will leave. U.S. officials have gone back to Washington, D.C., to consult on the language, the al-Maliki confidant said.

Al-Maliki's confidant defended the shake-up, saying al-Maliki needs the people closest to him to lead the talks because they have the authority to make decisions the original team did not possess.

Iraqi and Western officials, monitoring the talks, have said that al-Maliki is afraid of accepting terms that could brand him an American puppet. Iran, which is fiercely opposed to an agreement, also has exerted intense pressure.

Shiite lawmakers have said that some members in the prime minister's Dawa party think Iraq can survive without the Americans if the White House doesn't meet al-Maliki's demands.

In last week's reshuffle, al-Maliki dismissed the delegation headed by the Foreign Ministry and chose his national security adviser, Mowaffak Rubaie; his chief of staff, Tareq Najem; and political adviser Sadiq Rikabi to conduct the negotiations' final stage, the official said.