Iraqi Cabinet Backs U.S. Security Deal

"We have a limited window of time," warned Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister.

Another wild card is the stance of the Sunni parties. The Shiite-led government has sought consensus so the treaty would not become a political football in the run-up to provincial elections scheduled for late January.

"There will be a problem if the Sunni bloc decides to abstain. That is quite critical," said Haider al-Abadi, a prominent member of the prime minister's Dawa party.

In addition to parliamentary approval, the agreement needs the go-ahead from Iraq's presidential council. The Sunni representative on that council, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, has called for a national referendum on the pact.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Accordance Front bloc that includes most Sunni parties, said in an interview that he expected its members to vote for the agreement.

"Hashimi has disagreements with some small points, but that will not make him reject it," he said.

The U.S. government began negotiating the agreement in March, and had hoped it would be signed by the summer. But the talks dragged on. Iraq won some major concessions, including the establishment of the 2011 withdrawal date instead of vaguer language favored by the Bush administration. It also rejected long-term U.S. military bases on its soil.

Still, the accord was attacked by Iraqi politicians when a near-final draft was distributed last month. Some explained their turnabout this week by noting that the U.S. government had accepted last-minute changes demanded by the Iraqi cabinet.

The changes were mostly minor, according to people close to the negotiations, but may have allowed Iraqi politicians to portray themselves as driving a tough bargain. Lawmakers are wary of appearing too pro-American, and some faced pressure from Iran, which strongly opposes the accord, Iraqi officials and analysts said.

The accord's proponents, including American officials and Iraq's defense, interior and finance ministers, appeared to make headway in arguing that there could be a security vacuum if Iraq quickly ended its dependence on U.S. military assistance.

"The alternative is worse than the agreement," said Sami al-Askeri, an adviser to Maliki who had earlier criticized the pact. "The situation is not that good" that U.S. troops could leave by year's end, he said.

All but one of the 28 ministers attending Sunday's cabinet meeting voted to approve the accord, as did Maliki, officials said. The holdout was the women's affairs minister, a Sunni belonging to Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party, they said. Several other Sunnis in attendance backed the agreement, they said.