Al-Maliki says security pact in US, Iraqi interest

[September 29, 2008]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview Monday that reaching a new security accord with the United States is essential to both sides, but that any deal reached must respect Iraqi interests.

Al-Maliki told The Associated Press that he is willing to compromise on the thorny issue of legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops in the country, but warned that Iraq's parliament will not accept any pact that falls short of the country's national interests.

Trying to push such a deal through would result in political discord inside Iraq that could threaten his government, he warned.

The Iraqi prime minister spoke at length about the dilemma he faces in trying to secure a "historic" agreement with the United States to set the terms for the future U.S. presence.

In the interview, he also took note of the immense sacrifices made by the American public and soldiers on Iraq's behalf over the past five years. Iraq wishes it could help the United States during its current economic difficulties, he said, and its best way to aid America could be taking more responsibility for its own security.

Answering questions in his office situated in Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone, al-Maliki underscored that he is firmly committed to reaching an accord that would allow U.S. troops to remain in the country beyond next year.

"We regard negotiating and reaching such an agreement as a national endeavor, a national mission, a historic one. It is a very important agreement that involves the stability and the security of the country and the existence of foreign troops. It has a historic dimension," al-Maliki said.

The talks have been snagged in recent weeks over Iraq's demand that it have legal jurisdiction over U.S. forces in the country if they are accused of wrongdoing. But al-Maliki signaled that he is now willing to accept immunity for U.S. forces when they are pursuing their official duties, and would only demand Iraqi legal jurisdiction over them when not.

If this issue is resolved, he said, he believed the other "hanging issues" could be solved quickly.

If the talks fail, the U.S. fallback likely would be to seek a new resolution at the United Nations' Security Council authorizing a U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

But al-Maliki noted that new tensions between Russia and the United States, caused by the August outbreak of hostilities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, could complicate any attempt to secure such a resolution for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq.

"If we don't reach an agreement by the 1st of January 2009, the (international) troops will have to remain in their bases and then there should be a plan for a quick withdrawal," he said.

"This would not be in the interests of Iraq nor in the interests of the United States. Our need for coalition forces is decreasing -- but it still exists."

[Associated Press; By JOHN DANISZEWSKI]

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