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Iraq faces dilemma over US troops US presidential contender Barack Obama has repeatedly seized on statements attributed to Iraqi leaders to support his call for a troop withdrawal deadline. The key statement cited by Mr Obama and others was made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki last Monday in his address to Arab ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates. The prime minister was widely quoted as saying that in the negotiations with the Americans on a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate the US troop presence from next year, "the direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their...

BAGHDAD, July 14 (VOI) – Iraq and the United States have agreed on most points of the joint cooperation agreement, which is scheduled to govern the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq, a Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition leader said on Monday. "Disagreement between the Iraqi and U.S. sides has largely subsided and they have agreed on many points," Hassan al-Saneed told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI). According to al-Saneed, the Iraqi vision of the security agreement with Washington can be divided into three aspects: cultural, economic and educational strategic cooperation, a timetabled withdrawal of the Multi-National Force (MNF), and...

BAGHDAD, July 5 (VOI), The Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki's upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) comes to reinforce the Iraqi – Arab relations, al-Maliki's adviser said on Saturday. He added that Iraq does not need neighboring countries' "approval" to sign the long term security agreement with the U.S. "This visit is part of Iraq's intentions to reinforce its relations with Arab and regional countries, after the recent political and security developments in Iraq," Sadeq al-Riqabi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). "Since the change in 2003, Iraq expressed its intention to establish relations, relying on...

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq said on Wednesday it was on the verge of agreeing a controversial pact with the United States to govern US troop levels and ground rules in the nation beyond 2008 when a UN mandate expires.Tough negotiations between Washington and Baghdad on the security deal has made recent progress and an initial framework arrangement is "almost finalised," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told a press briefing."We are talking about a strategic framework agreement that will improve cooperation between Iraq and the United States on a whole range of issues... We have almost finalised the document."In Washington, US National...

BAGHDAD - Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets. Those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so many years of unfounded optimism by the war's supporters. Unquestionably, the security and political situation in Iraq is fragile. U.S. commanders warn repeatedly that security gains are reversible....

Negotiations between Washington and Baghdad over a new security pact are turning into a political crisis in Baghdad. The talks are intended to establish the legal conditions under which U.S. troops will remain in Iraq after their UN mandate expires at the end this year. Not a great deal is known publicly about the details of the negotiations over the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Washington and the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. That is because both sides are keeping their negotiating stances secret -- precisely to avoid the slowdown of a larger public debate. But the strategy...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday that US-Iraqi negotiations for a long-term security pact were not dead and that despite difficulties, a deal would be signed "by the end of July.""These talks are ongoing. They're not dead," Zebari said of negotiations to decide the future of the US military presence in Iraq after the current UN mandate expires in December."Definitely, there hasn't been an impasse," he told CNN.Zebari said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's statement Friday in Amman that Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) talks were at an impasse had been "corrected and clarified."Maliki had said the...