NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) — 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 Shiite 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 December 31, 2011.
The proposals have drawn heavy criticism from many segments of Iraq's religiously mixed society, especially that of the parliamentary Shiite faction led by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who advocates the immediate withdrawal of the US.
The deal was originally set to be signed in July, but has been held up by the difficult negotiations.
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.
Speaking to reporters on a flight returning from a five-day trip to Europe, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that he believes Washington and Baghdad are near a final accord.
"I am actually reasonably optimistic we will come to closure on this in a very near future," he said.
On Tuesday Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said a deal between the US and Iraq is "very close". His comments were echoed by visiting US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.
"There have been new ideas and new language that could be acceptable, but no final decision has been made. This needs some bold political decisions now," Zebari told reporters in Baghdad's highly-fortified Green Zone.
Zebari said the two countries are acutely aware of the time constraint to work out an arrangement before the end of the year, but declined to be pinned down to a deadline.
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