Iraq Says Talks on Pact With U.S. at Impasse
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
nytimes.com
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s negotiations with the United States on a security agreement governing America’s long-term involvement in the country are at an impasse because America’s demands infringe upon Iraqi sovereignty, the country’s prime minister said Friday.
The comments were the first by the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, in which he explicitly detailed the main points of contention between the United States and the Iraqi government in the negotiations for the security agreement.
The new agreement would authorize American forces and operations in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year.
In a meeting with newspaper editors in Jordan, Mr. Maliki said the current draft of the agreement reached during the ongoing negotiations was unacceptable. “The American version of the agreement infringes hugely on the sovereignty of Iraq and this is something that we cannot ever accept,” he said.
Many of Mr. Maliki’s concerns have been voiced publicly over the last several weeks by prominent Shiite politicians in Iraq, some of them from his own Dawa Party. But this is the first time that the prime minister has raised the same points and described the major differences between the two nations.
Mr. Maliki said there were four areas in which proposed versions of the agreement failed to give sufficient deference to Iraqi sovereignty.
“Iraq rejects Washington’s insistence on granting their forces immunity from Iraqi laws and courts,” he said. “We reject Washington’s demand to have a free hand in undertaking military operations without cooperation with the Iraqi government.”
He added: “We cannot give permission to the American forces independent right to arrest Iraqis or execute operations against terrorism. We cannot allow them to use the Iraqi skies and waters at all times.”
The question of immunity for American contractors accused of killing a number of Iraqi civilians unprovoked is a particularly sensitive point with Iraqis who want to be able to bring the wrongdoers to trial in Iraqi courts.
Mr. Maliki had a somewhat firmer tone on Friday than similar comments made on Thursday after he met with King Abdullah in Jordan.
Then, Mr. Maliki emphasized that the talks with the United States negotiators were continuing and that there were many possible ways to proceed.
“There is no agreement yet; there are many drafts, many thoughts,” he said in comments to the press that were broadcast on Radio Sawa, an Iraqi network. “But we have different visions.”
Although he made clear at the time that there were deep disagreements between the United States and Iraq, he also said the talks were far from over.
“The important thing is that the conversation between us and the United States is still going on but there are many disagreements and different visions between us but we continue in our discussions,” he said on Thursday.
He added that the agreement was “not close” to being signed.
Earlier this week, President Bush expressed confidence that his administration would reach a new agreement with Iraq. The negotiations face opposition in Congress and, increasingly, in Iraq.
Within Iraq, different Iraqi political factions hold varying views — Sunnis and Kurds, for instance are more open to an agreement, while some of the Shiite factions, which are closer to Iran, are more critical of it. But they all emphasize the importance of Iraq’s sovereignty rights. Iran’s supreme leader has warned Mr. Maliki not to ratify an agreement.
During a sermon Friday in the holy city of Karbala, an aide to the Shiite religious lead, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged Iraqi negotiators to protect the national interest, The Associated Press reported.
“Iraq’s sovereignty and economy must be protected," the aide, Ahmed al-Safi, told worshippers.
Meanwhile, hundreds of followers of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr — long an opponent of American involvement in Iraq — also rallied in Karbala in protest against the agreement.
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