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Sunni might withhold support for US pact
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA,Associated Press Writer AP - Wednesday, November 26
BAGHDAD - A leader of the largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament hinted he might withhold support for a proposed pact that would allow American troops to stay in Iraq through 2011, making it difficult for the Shiite-led government to win the big victory it needs in Wednesday's vote.
A comfortable parliamentary majority would ensure the legitimacy of an agreement that sets a clear timetable for U.S. withdrawal after years of war and could lead to full sovereignty for Iraq.
But intense debate and backroom dealing continued over the pact, which has supporters and detractors from both Sunni and Shiite communities jockeying for political gain ahead of provincial and general elections next year.
"The national division over the agreement is very clear," said Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who leads one of three parties in a Sunni bloc called the Iraqi Accordance Front. "Consensus appears to be very difficult, if not impossible," he said Tuesday.
Al-Hashemi is a member of a Sunni bloc that seeks a national referendum on the U.S.-Iraqi security pact and other concessions in exchange for its support for the agreement, a position that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has described as political blackmail.
Even if parliament passes the deal _ only the barest of majorities would do the trick _ it faces an additional hurdle because the three-man Presidential Council, which includes al-Hashemi, must then ratify it. Each of the three has veto power.
Another obstacle is that if the agreement passes with a narrow majority, it could prompt the country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to express his dissatisfaction publicly. That would likely sink the deal.
Al-Sistani is revered by Iraq's majority Shiites. He has indicated that the agreement was less than ideal but would not object if it passes by a comfortable majority.
If the deal is finally approved, it would set in motion an American withdrawal that could be accelerated if President-elect Barack Obama makes good on a plan to pull out all combat troops within 16 months of moving into the White House in January.
But the Iraqi government has struggled to win over skeptical lawmakers, who see an easy political target in an agreement negotiated with a foreign government that has forces on Iraqi soil. Debate in parliament degenerated into scuffles last week, and Iraqi leaders have delivered increasingly dire warnings about the security and economic threats to Iraq if the deal does not pass.
U.S. forces are currently operating under a U.N. mandate that expires Dec. 31. If the security pact is rejected and the U.N. mandate is not renewed, American forces would be confined to their bases, leaving Iraqi troops to fend for themselves in a country where security concerns have hampered development.
"The alternatives are dangerous," Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said. "They will push Iraq and its young political experiment into the unknown. ... Let us not play with the future of this country."
A senior Sunni lawmaker, Omar Abdul-Sattar, said the Presidential Council was working on a package of political reforms demanded by several blocs in exchange for their support of the agreement.
The package would be put to a vote in parliament Wednesday, al-Sattar said. If approved, it would go to the Presidential Council for ratification, he said.
The White House expressed hope that parliament would approve the pact, and referred to bombings in Baghdad a day earlier that killed at least 22 people, by an Iraqi count.
"If you look at the violence that took place there yesterday _ that was indiscriminate and killed many people _ it reminds us that the Iraqis have come a long way," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters. "But they're not quite there yet to be able to take care of all their security needs on their own, and they continue to need our support."
Al-Maliki's Cabinet has approved the agreement. But the ruling coalition's main Shiite and Kurdish partners would muster only a slight majority in the 275-seat legislature if the 44-seat Accordance Front, also represented in the coalition, remains opposed to the agreement.
Thirty lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have rejected the deal.
The deal requires U.S. forces to withdraw from the cities by June 30 and from the entire country by Jan. 1, 2012, and places them under strict Iraqi oversight. It gives Iraq limited judicial rights over U.S. soldiers and civilian Pentagon employees in the case of serious crimes off-duty and off-base, and bars U.S. forces from using Iraqi territory from attacking neighboring nations.
___
Associated Press reporter Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.
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