Region | Iraq
Shiite party to vote against Iraq-US security agreement
A small Iraqi Shiite party based in the south says it will vote against a security pact with the United States allowing US troops to stay in Iraq for three more years.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:15 November 19, 2008
- Iraqis hold a demonstration in support of a US-Iraqi security pact in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, on Wednesday.
- Image Credit: AP
Baghdad: A small Iraqi Shiite party based in the south says it will vote against a security pact with the United States allowing US troops to stay in Iraq for three more years.
The Fadhila party says the agreement infringes on Iraq's sovereignty.
The party has 15 of parliament's 275 seats. It has been at odds with parliament's main Shiite bloc. The announcement yesterday was made by senior lawmaker Hassan Al Shimari.
Even without Fadhila's votes, the agreement remains assured of a majority in parliament when lawmakers vote on it on November 24. Another group, the Shiite Sadrist bloc, has declared its opposition to the agreement. It has about 30 seats in parliament.
Iraq's prime minister has said the security pact, though imperfect, was a step toward his country's full sovereignty. He also promised Iraq won't be used for cross-border attacks - a reassurance to Iran and Syria which view the American military presence here as a threat.
Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki delivered his comments on Tuesday in a nationally televised address designed to rally domestic support ahead of the parliament vote on the security deal.
The deal would keep US forces in Iraq through 2011 but place them under strict Iraqi oversight - the first since the US-led invasion five years ago.
Al Maliki said that while the government still has "reservations" about the agreement, it was a "solid prelude to the restoration of Iraq's full sovereignty in three years' time."
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