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Baghdad: The United States has agreed to open up for discussion an immunity clause for American soldiers in Iraq that has been the sticking point in attempts to thrash out a security pact that would govern the role of US troops in Iraq, an Iraqi parliamentarian told Gulf News.
"The US conveyed to Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki the decision to lift the veto on discussions about the immunity of US forces in Iraq and agreed to negotiate the issue," said Feriad Rawanduz, a member representing the Kurdistan Alliance in the Iraqi parliament's Defence and Security Committee.
Rawanduz said it looked likely in the new circumstances that Al Maliki could sign the agreement before the end of the year.
Compromise pact
A compromise settlement could involve the establishment of a joint Iraqi-US judiciary to rule on cases dealing with US criminal acts, Rawanduz said.
"Al Maliki played his cards right by not signing the security agreement with the US and forcing the US President to discuss the issue of immunity of US troops," said sources in the ruling Shiite Alliance led by Abdul Aziz Al Hakim.
In the event of successful negotiations, the draft of the security agreement would be turned over to the Executive Board and then to the National Security Council before finally being presented to the parliament for ratification.
US Ambassador Ryan Crocker has said Americans need to look at Iraq with "strategic patience" because the stakes for the country in the region are very high.
Envoy's take
It was in Iran's interests to see the negotiations fall through, Crocker said. "This is not the time when we can afford to lose interest or lose focus."
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Abdul Qader Jasem Mohammad confirmed yesterday that Washington had offered a number of Beechcraft spy planes to bolster the Iraqi security forces.
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