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Security Accord Approved In Iraq
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In a statement, U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, applauded the vote. The agreements "formalize a strong and equal partnership between the United States and Iraq. They provide the means to secure the significant security gains we have achieved together and to deter future aggression," the statement read.
The last-minute demands by Sunni politicians delayed the vote, originally scheduled for Wednesday. Iraq's Sunnis are concerned that the pact would allow Maliki and other Shiite leaders to wield considerable power over Iraq. But Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers offered assurances that the government would work to bring more Sunnis into Iraq's mostly Shiite security forces and to release more Sunni detainees being held in U.S.-run prisons. All 35 lawmakers in the Iraqi Accordance Front who were present voted for the agreement, Dulaimi said.
In interviews across the nation, Iraqis expressed mixed opinions about the agreement.
"This agreement will keep Iraq under occupation for another three years and the resistance against the occupation would be considered illegal," said Hamid Hussein Mohammed, 44, a government employee in the northern city of Mosul. "This agreement is a shame on Maliki's government."
In the southern city of Basra, English teacher Murtada Jawad, 30, disagreed.
"What happened today shows how strong Maliki is, because he convinced all the political blocs to pass the agreement despite their divisions," she said.
Staff writer Dan Eggen in Washington, special correspondents K.I. Ibrahim, Zaid Sabah and Aziz Alwan in Baghdad, and Washington Post staff in Mosul, Kirkuk, Basra, Najaf, Tikrit, Fallujah and Baqubah contributed to this report.
