BAGHDAD: Iraq's Cabinet defied fiery opposition from Shi'ite hardliners yesterday to approve a wide-ranging military pact with the US, including a timetable for the withdrawal of all American troops by the end of 2011.Within hours of the decision, a suicide car bomb had exploded at a police checkpoint in the volatile Diyala province, killing at least 15 people, according to police, while a roadside bomb killed three people in the capital just before the meeting began.
Baghdad and Washington have been scrambling for months to reach a deal that will govern the status of more than 150,000 United States soldiers stationed in some 400 bases across the country, after their United Nations mandate expires on Dec 31.
The Cabinet approved the pact after a 21/2-hour meeting, with 27 ministers voting for it, one minister abstaining, and the remaining 10 skipping the meeting, said a minister who voted in favour.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters after the vote that all the most important political blocs had taken a 'positive position' on the deal. 'They all expressed a positive position because they consider it the best possible, because it will manage and end the military presence and guarantee the complete withdrawal of the troops.'
The measure was to be sent to Parliament later yesterday, where it would need to be approved by a majority through a process that will take at least a week. It would then need to be ratified by Iraq's presidential council before Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki can sign the deal with US President George W. Bush.
Iraq's lead negotiator Muwafaq al-Rubaie said last Friday that he believed the draft agreement was a 'very good text' and expected it to be approved by Parliament. The White House was also upbeat, describing the text of the accord as a 'good agreement' that suits both nations.
It took nearly 11 months of tense and detailed negotiations before both Baghdad and Washington were comfortable with the pact.
The draft agreement includes 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by next June and from the entire country by the end of 2011.
Under the agreement, an executive and a technical committee will be established to investigate 'violations' committed by US forces, Mr Dabbagh said.
Iraq had demanded the right to prosecute alleged crimes committed by US troops and foreign contractors, while the US agreed to lift its immunity only for those who committed crimes off-duty and off their bases. Mr Dabbagh said Iraq had also succeeded in securing the right to investigate all cargo going in and out of the country.
And the agreement will transfer the files of an estimated 16,400 detainees currently being held by US forces to Iraqi judges, who will decide their fate.
The pact has drawn fire from hardline nationalists, especially the anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters have called for mass demonstrations to oppose any agreement.
'We were surprised and shocked by this approval, which expresses devotion to the occupation by agreeing to the mandate the occupier wanted,' senior Sadrist leader Hazem al-Araji said, adding that a protest would be held in Baghdad on Friday.
The volatility of the security situation was highlighted by a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad yesterday, shortly before the Cabinet began its meeting.
A security official said the blast killed three people, including two members of a pro-government Sunni militia.
In the afternoon, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint east of Baquba, capital of Iraq's volatile Diyala province, police said, putting the toll at 15 dead, including seven policemen, and 20 wounded.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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