Iraq parliament delays vote on security agreement

The delay, coming after days of political bargaining and cajoling, underscored Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's concerns about passing the controversial Status of Forces Agreement without a wide margin. The legislature's main Shiite Muslim and Kurdish blocs support the deal, virtually ensuring it would win the 138 votes needed to pass the 275-seat parliament. But Shiite Muslim leaders want to ensure sufficient Sunni votes to guarantee its legitimacy in the eyes of Iraq's Sunnis.

As a result, what began as a debate over the future of U.S. forces here has evolved into a political showdown reflective of the resentment, sectarian distrust and grudges among Iraqi lawmakers. The main Sunni bloc, Tawafiq, led the way in using the security agreement as a bargaining chip for getting its own demands met, but smaller political factions followed.

By today, a host of mainly Sunni parties were demanding that the pact be accompanied by legislation encompassing a range of demands. They included amnesty for U.S.-held detainees, who are mainly Sunni; the elimination of a special court established to try figures in Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime for crimes committed on the regime's behalf; and the lifting of restrictions that prevent former members of Hussein's Baath Party from holding high-level government jobs.

Tawafiq demanded that the pact, if approved, be subject to a national referendum next year. If the public rejected it, the pact would be canceled, according to the Tawafiq proposal.

The parliament speaker, Mahmoud Mashadani, indicated that most of the demands had been met during private talks among political leaders. "We have a generally positive atmosphere," he said. But he said the blocs needed more time to hammer out details, so the long-anticipated vote would be put off until Thursday.

The pact, which is to take effect Jan. 1, would replace the United Nations mandate now governing the U.S. troop presence, which expires that day.

In addition to setting the end of 2011 as the date for all U.S. forces to be out of Iraq, the roughly 20-page document also sets June 30, 2009, as the date for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraqi's cities, towns and villages and confine themselves to distant bases.

Under the plan, American troops no longer would be allowed to conduct searches or detentions without Iraqi approval, and in some cases they could face Iraqi justice for crimes committed off-base, while not on legitimate military missions. Private contractors working in Iraq on behalf of the U.S. would no longer have American protection if they were charged with crimes.

Despite concessions won by Maliki in the final weeks of negotiations for the pact, some critics said it was a sellout to the United States. Lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr were steadfast in their opposition and criticized other groups for using it as a means of furthering their own political goals.

"We consider it a way of giving legitimacy to the presence of occupation forces on Iraqi territory," pro-Sadr lawmaker Falah Shanshal said of the agreement.

Salman and Susman are Times staff writers.

tina.susman@latimes.com