Baghdad - Iraq will sign a long-term security agreement with the US only if the latter agrees to compromise on Iraqi-proposed amendments, the al-Sabah newspaper said Thursday. The Iraqi government had handed the US embassy in Baghdad an amended draft on Tuesday, although both parties had agreed in mid- October that the last draft was final.
The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) would extend the mandate of US forces in Iraq beyond the end of this year, when the UN authorization runs out.
The changes proposed by the cabinet would clarify under what circumstances US troops would be answerable to Iraqi law.
"The ball now is in the Americans' court. If they want an agreement, they will have to agree to draft amendments," an Iraqi official told the newspaper. The US government has expressed concerns that time is running out on an agreement and has been reluctant to make changes.
"We think we have a good agreement. And the window for any kind of discussions, negotiations is, you know, rapidly coming to a close," US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said Thursday.
The Iraqi cabinet also wants clarity on differences between the English and Arabic texts of the agreement. One version calls for US troops to "respect" Iraqi law while the other calls for them to "adhere to" Iraqi law.
On Wednesday US President George W Bush said in a meeting with the president of the Kurdish autonomous region, Massoud Barzani, in Washington that the US was reviewing the Iraqi amendments. Bush said he is "very hopeful and confident that the SOFA will get passed."
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said on Thursday in a meeting with Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, that the details of the draft agreement and amendments should be made public, so that the Iraqi public might know that the agreement was in their interest.
The Kurdish parties in Iraq have been consistent supporters of the SOFA agreement.
