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If ever there was proof of Russia’s intentions in the Middle East, it can be seen in a just announced 4 nation pact there: Iraq joined Russia, Iran and Syria in a new agreement to strengthen cooperation against extremist group Islamic State, extending the Kremlin’s reach in the Middle East as it rivals Washington for influence.[…]Iraq’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that the country had signed an intelligence and security cooperation pact with Russia, Iran and Syria, pledging to cooperate in collecting information about Islamic State. The deal effectively formalizes years of military collaboration among the four nations, which have...

The Iraqi cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact with the US that will allow American forces to stay in the country until 2011. All 27 cabinet ministers present at the meeting, in addition to PM Nouri al-Maliki, voted in favour of the pact. The agreement will be submitted to parliament later. The draft agreement consists of 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 2009. As the cabinet meeting started a roadside bomb went off at a Baghdad checkpoint, killing three people, according to AFP. Another seven people were wounded in the...

Baghdad wants to delete any reference in the draft security pact with Washington to the possibility of US troops staying in Iraq after 2011, an MP close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told AFP on Thursday. The demand is one of five amendments proposed by Iraq, said Ali al-Adib, a Dawa party member of parliament. "The Iraqi government wants to remove from the agreement any mention of a possible extension of the American presence in Iraq," he said. The draft pact says US forces will withdraw from towns and neighbourhoods by the end of June next year and from the...

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...

AMMAN -- It was an usually quiet day in Iraq on Friday in terms of violence, but the debate over a long-term security and military pact that the Iraqi government is secretly negotiating with the United States continued to raise a political storm among leaders eager to regain sovereignty over their country. Iraqi lawmakers said they were increasingly concerned that an Iraqi-U.S. pact, which would determine the role of U.S. troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate's term expires at the end of the year, would pass without their endorsement amid indications that the two sides were rushing to forge...

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...