Baghdad - After months of controversy, the Iraqi parliament on Thursday approved the security agreement with the United States to set the timetable for a US forces pullout from the country. Under the security agreement negotiated between Washington and Baghdad, US troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.
The pact will be effective from the beginning of 2009 after the current United Nations Security Council mandate expires.
"The agreement is a national achievement and a new era of self governing and security," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.
"There are no losers or winners, today we are all victorious. This vote is a victory for democracy," he added.
Some 144 lawmakers voted in favour of the security agreement, clearing the hurdle of 138 votes needed for a simple majority in the 275-member body.
Around 54 lawmakers, including the anti-US Sadrists bloc which has 30 seats in the parliament, voted against the agreement.
The session was marred by scenes of turmoil, with those lawmakers opposed to the deal pounding their desks and shouting "yes, yes to Iraq" and "no, no to the agreement."
Only 198 deputies out of the 275 lawmakers attended the vote.
Meanwhile, some 149 lawmakers voted for a list of political reforms that included adding more Sunni leaders to security forces and freeing prisoners held in Iraqi jails.
Some Sunnis who had opposed the pact agreed to back it during last minute negotiations. The Tawafuq Coalition and the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue both decided to support the pact.
Strong supporters of the deal were the main Shiite governing alliance and Kurdish parties. The two blocs were enough to pass the deal with more than the required majority of 138 votes.
Lawmakers a day before agreed to pass the pact on condition of a national referendum on the agreement in July 2009. The referendum is to decide whether the security agreement with the US will continue in Iraq, six months after its initial implementation.
"We are patiently waiting for the national referendum to come to show the true feelings of the Iraqi people," said Rawia Mahdi, 38, a government employee.
An Iraqi taxi driver said that matters would be clear after six months from implementing the deal. "The national referendum will reflect a 'mature' opinion, giving Iraqis the right to decide their destiny," said Amged Daoud, 35.
The deal that took nine months of intensive negotiations allows Iraq the right to prosecute US soldiers under Iraqi law for actions committed off duty. On duty soldiers are to be subject to US military law.
In addition, the Iraqi government has assured that under the agreement Iraq will not be used as a launch base for attacks on neighboring countries.
In separate news, two blasts killed two and injured nine Thursday in Baghdad. The first blast struck an army patrol in Qahera district in northern Baghdad, killing a soldier and injuring another three, police sources told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.
The second blast hit Milson Square in the New Baghdad district of eastern Baghdad. One civilian was killed and six were injured, VOI reported.
In Diyala, 18 women from a suicide bombing network turned themselves over to US forces in Iraq, the US forces said.
The women, who had received training to become suicide bombers, had reportedly been convinced by their fathers and local clerics to stop their training and turn themselves in.
Terrorists groups have been using women to conduct suicide attacks in Iraq as women are less frequently subjected to body searches. Religious and cultural rules prevent predominantly-male security officers from touching women while conducting searches.
