Iraqi parliament to vote on U.S. pact Nov. 26

[unhappycamper]

Iraqi parliament to vote on U.S. pact Nov. 26
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Nov 22, 2008 15:34:25 EST

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament will vote Wednesday on the proposed Iraq-U.S. security agreement that would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years, the legislature’s speaker said.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani made the announcement at the end of a six-hour debate on the agreement in which at least two dozen lawmakers spoke. He said a vote could be held earlier if the country’s main political groups reached agreement on the deal earlier than Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose government negotiated the deal over several months, has said he wanted the deal approved by consensus, and the country’s most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has indicated that the deal would be acceptable only if it wins passage in the legislature by a big majority.

The vote was originally scheduled for Monday, but many lawmakers who spoke in Saturday’s session, including some from the ruling Shiite bloc, said they objected to the relatively short time that the government gave them to study the deal.

Al-Maliki’s Cabinet approved the pact last Sunday and distributed copies to lawmakers the following day.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_iraqpact_112208/%2e