US paves way for long-term stay in Iraq

FT.com
By Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent, and Demetri Sevastopulo and Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: November 26 2007 19:06 Last updated: November 26 2007 19:06

George W. Bush, US president, and Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi prime minister, have signed a declaration that paves the way for a possible long-term US presence in Iraq in addition to the restoration of full Iraqi sovereignty.
US and Iraqi officials said both countries would work towards extending the United Nations mandate that allows US and coalition troops to operate in Iraq for one more year. Washington and Baghdad have also agreed to work towards then replacing the mandate with a US-Iraqi security agreement.

Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, told the FT that the next year would be the last in which US and allied troops in Iraq were covered by the UN mandate that has been in effect since 2003. He said that the status of forces in Iraq would afterwards be covered by a bilateral US-Iraqi agreement.
Mr Zebari said the US and Iraq were preparing to submit a request to the UN Security Council to extend the mandate for the US-led coalition. He said the resolution would refer to the willingness of the Iraqi government to engage in bilateral negotiations with the US to reach a long-term security arrangement.
Mr Zebari added that the bilateral security agreement would allow the UN to lift sanctions imposed on Iraq after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, including restrictions on military purchases, “dual-use” items that could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction and foreign assets.
The move comes as the US starts to wind down the surge of 30,000 soldiers amid signs that violence has dropped in Iraq since June.
General Douglas Lute, White House adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan, said the aim of the US-Iraqi negotiations was to create a “reliable, enduring partnership” between Washington and Baghdad.
Gen Lute said the final agreement would authorise a “continued presence for US and other coalition troops outside of the UN Security Council mandate”.
He added that it was important that rival Iraqi sects did not have to “hedge their bets” because of uncertainty over US commitment to the country.
Peter Rodman, a former senior Pentagon official now at the Brookings Institution, said the agreement would pave the way for Iraq to get full sovereignty “untrammelled” by the UN resolution. The security agreement would be likely to include provisions on training and supplies for Iraqi forces, he said.
The White House said the declaration was the first move in a three-step process that would normalise US-Iraqi relations “in a way which is consistent with Iraq’s sovereignty and will help Iraq regain its rightful status in the international community”.
Iraqi officials presented the plan to parliament in a closed session on Monday. Independent parliamentarian Mahmoud Osman said that it had been opposed by some deputies, mostly from the radical Shia Sadrist bloc, who said that such a deal should not be made while the country was still under occupation.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007