The Iraqi government spokesman gave a dim outlook Monday of reaching a security agreement with the current U.S. administration.
"There is a large possibility of postponing the signing of the long-term agreement between Iraq and the U.S., until a new U.S. administration is elected," Ali al-Dabbagh was quoted as saying by the Voice of Iraq news agency.
Their disputes include a timetable for the pullout of foreign troops and how the U.S. forces would operate in Iraq, Dabbagh said, adding that both sides were trying to achieve the maximum gains.
The negotiations for a long-term bilateral agreement started March, aimed at framing a sweeping arrangement for future mutual relations, including the security issue, after the UN mandate on Iraq expires at the end of this year.
Yet, they are locked in differences over the status of the U.S. force in Iraq in the coming years.
Facing growing pressures at home for upholding national sovereignty and interests before the provincial elections planned for October, the Iraqi government is showing a hardened stance.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has termed the negotiations as coming into a deadlock, and later demanded a timetable be necessary for the deal in question.
Iraq's national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie insisted last week that any agreement contain a time line for the U.S. military to pull out.
The U.S. administration has downplayed those rhetorics.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari suggested early this month that an extension of UN mandate or an interim document regarding the U.S. military presence in Iraq would be options, should they fail to hammer out a long-term pact before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January next year.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement on long-term status of U.S. troops within Bush's tenure.
Instead, an interim document is in the works which would allow basic U.S. military operations to continue after the end of UN mandate.
Dabbagh told the Iraqi news agency that the U.S. is talking about a number of years, while Iraq maintains that the Americans' stay should be short and hinge on the ability building of Iraq's own force.
"It is not important to sign the agreement on time (end of July2008), the important things are the aims that the Iraqi government seeks to accomplish by signing this treaty with the U.S.," he said.
Source:Xinhua
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