Iraqi cabinet to vote on security pact

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-16-2008 09:27

Iraq's cabinet will vote on a security pact with Washington. On Sunday, the cabinet will decide whether to keep US forces in Iraq for another three years.

In a press conference after the meeting on Saturday, the two legislators said the draft stipulates US troops to withdraw  from Iraqi cities next year, and pull out of the country  completely by 2011.

In a bid to secure support for the agreement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki asked two senior Shi'ite lawmakers to visit the top Shi'ite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, and show him the final draft of the pact.

In a press conference after the meeting on Saturday, the two legislators said the draft stipulates US troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities next year, and pull out of the country completely by 2011.

A senior official at al-Sistani's office said the cleric has agreed not to object to the pact if the Cabinet and parliament should approve it. The UN mandate covering the presence of US forces in Iraq expires on December 31st.

Editor:Xiong Qu