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Immunity still a problem despite US concessions

Says Maliki

AFP, Najaf
Washington has made "huge concessions" in a controversial military pact still under negotiation, but immunity issues remain a problem, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday.
Among sticking points is a demand that neither foreign troops nor civilian Americans should enjoy legal immunity while in Iraq, Maliki said.
"Washington has made huge concessions, but some points about immunity for troops and civil Americans are still pending," the prime minister told reporters after a meeting in Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most respected Shia cleric.
Washington and Baghdad are negotiating a security pact to map the future of US forces in Iraq after
the UN mandate expires in December this year.
The UN document acts as the legal framework for the presence of foreign forces in the violence-wracked country.
Other issues delaying a final deal between the US and Iraq include questions of legal jurisdiction, the detention of Iraqi nationals and who will lead military operations from next year.
Nevertheless Maliki says the new draft pact has reached the "final stages".
Among both weak and positive points, he believes the most important issue dealt with is the fixed timeline for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.
Maliki recalled that the arrangement envisages US troops pulling back from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009 and withdrawing
completely from the country by December31,2011.
The proposals have drawn heavy criticism from many segments of Iraq's religiously mixed society, especially that of the parliamentary Shia faction led by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who advocates the immediate withdrawal of the US.
Asked if Sistani would agree to the deal, Maliki said Sistani will accept an accord if it wins Iraqi lawmakers' stamp of approval.
"If parliament and the government agree he would not oppose the agreement," the prime minister said.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Tuesday that a deal between the US and Iraq is "very close". His comments were echoed by visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.