The Iraqi government said Wednesday that it has signed agreements with Britain and Australia that allow their troops to stay in Iraq until the end of July.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said that the agreements stated that the troops of the two countries would pull out from Iraq within seven months.
The agreements would take effect on Jan. 1, Askari said, adding that Iraqi Minister of Defense Abdul Qader al-Ubeidi signed late on Tuesday the agreements with the British and Australian ambassadors in Baghdad.
Askari also said that separate agreements would be signed with the other countries that have smaller numbers of troops stationed in Iraq.
"Within two days we will sign similar deals with representatives of countries that are continuing to provide troops for the Multinational Force - Iraq (MNF-I) which are El Salvador, Estonia and Romania.
On Dec. 22, the UN decided not to extend multinational force mandate in Iraq next year.
Iraq and the United States have reached a deal allowing U.S. troops to stay in the war-torn state until the end of 2011.
Besides the United States, Britain has the largest military presence of some 4,000 troops currently stationed in southern Iraq.
Source: Xinhua
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