BAGHDAD — Iraq's Cabinet on Sunday overwhelmingly accepted a plan to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011 and sent it on to parliament for approval, where it faces a fight from lawmakers who consider it a sellout to the Americans.
The Status of Forces Agreement was expected to be presented to the 275-seat national legislature today for the start of what is likely to be contentious debate. Lawmakers are under pressure to vote on it by Nov. 25, when they plan to set out on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The agreement is to replace the United Nations mandate expiring Dec. 31 that gives U.S. forces the legal basis for being in Iraq.
Though the Cabinet's approval marked a victory of sorts for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who wrung several concessions from the United States during months of negotiations, it also puts him on a collision course with some Shiite and Sunni Muslim lawmakers who strongly oppose the deal. Among them are followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, who has threatened to call his Mahdi Army militia back to war against the United States to derail the pact; and Sunni parliamentarians who said the pact should be voted on in a national referendum.
The agreement calls for American forces to pull out of Iraqi cities by the end of June and fully withdraw from Iraq by Dec. 31, 2011.
After lengthy negotiations, the U.S. also agreed to promise not to raid or attack neighboring countries from Iraq; not to search Iraqi homes or make arrests without Iraqi approval; and to drop demands for total immunity for U.S. forces accused of wrongdoing in the country.
Despite the compromises, Sadr rejects the pact because he wants U.S. forces to leave Iraq when the U.N. mandate ends. Leaders of Iraq's minority Sunni population say the plan is too important not to be voted on by the public.
The country's most influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, indicated over the weekend that he would not oppose the latest draft. Sistani's word carries immense weight with Iraq's Shiite majority and should help fellow Shiite Maliki navigate the choppy waters that might result from Sadr's opposition and from neighboring Iran, said Vali Nasr, an expert on Middle East politics at Tufts University.
"I think Maliki had to get the deal that would satisfy Sistani," Nasr said. "From the outset, he is the one who mattered and is the only one who can stand up to Iran and Sadr's opposition."
