14 September 2008: Reuters
Iraq and United States have prepared a "final" draft of a security pact which could clear the way for a large-scale troop withdrawal by 2011 and it is now awaiting a political decision, Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday.
"We have now a single text, a final draft. It is up to the political leadership now to make a political decision," he told journalists in Geneva, where he will address a global security conference this morning.
"That decision is drawing near, I think," he said.
Zebari declined to say how the question of immunity for U.S. troops -- one of the most contentious issues involved -- was dealt with in this final draft of the agreement .
He stressed the precise timing of the troop withdrawal would not be set in stone in the "very tactical and detailed" accord.
"We are contemplating that next summer, 2009, providing that this improvement in the Iraqi security performance and readiness [continues] ... there may be no more need for U.S. forces or coalition forces to be in the city centres," he said.
Depending on security conditions, the minister said, "2011 could be a possibility for a major deployment of forces," later clarifying that he was referring to a withdrawal.
"We are not talking about a fixed timetable. We are talking about a time horizon, timeline, aspirational date," he said. "Everything is condition-based, it's condition-driven."
Zebari said Washington's decision to temporarily boost its military presence in Iraq, a strategy known as a troop surge, had
helped stabilize the country and make its cities safer.
"I have been living in Baghdad for the past five years and now the situation is much much better in terms of the movement, in terms of the economy, of the people going out," he said.
Zebari said a status-of-forces accord with the U.S. would be an important political step that could help bolster Iraqi security forces who would take over when U.S.-led troops go. "This will get us closer to gaining full sovereignty," he said.
The United States plans to pull 8,000 troops out of Iraq by February, leaving a force of 138,000 there.
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