Region | Iraq
Iraq parliament vetoes law on British troops
Iraq's parliament voted on Saturday to reject a draft law that allows troops from Britain, Australia and several other countries to remain beyond the end of this year, Iraqi parliamentarians said.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:22 December 20, 2008
Baghdad: Iraq's parliament voted on Saturday to reject a draft law that allows troops from Britain, Australia and several other countries to remain beyond the end of this year, Iraqi parliamentarians said.
The draft law, under which those troops would withdraw by the end of July, was rejected because lawmakers objected to it being in the form of legislation, rather than an agreement as was the deal Iraq signed with the United States, said Hussain Al Falluji, a member of the Sunni Accordance Front.
"Legally, relations between two countries cannot be organised by a law. They should be arranged, according to international law, through treaties or agreements," said Al Falluji.
"For this reason parliament rejected this law. It was a big mistake by the government."
Both the law governing the British presence and the security pact allowing the 140,000 US soldiers in the country to remain three more years replace a UN mandate that expires on December 31.
"What the parliament did today, rejecting the bill, was a great national achievement," said Nasser Al Essawi, a lawmaker loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, who wants an immediate end to what he sees as a foreign occupation. "We believe that British forces and all other forces should pack their things," said Al Essawi.
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No comment was immediately available from the government.
The rejected law covered the future of troops from Britain, Australia, Romania, Estonia, El Salvador and Nato in Iraq, where violence is dropping sharply and foreign troops are increasingly handing over security to local forces.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week that a reserve unit of 400 British soldiers would remain to train Iraqi naval forces.
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