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Maliki reshuffles Iraqi negotiating team: report
Washington (AFP) Aug 31, 2008 Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reshuffled a negotiating team working on an agreement on withdrawal of US troops from Iraq amid worries the move may sabotage the deal, The Los Angeles Times reported on its website late Saturday. The newspaper said the reshuffle was disclosed to it by a senior Iraqi official close to Maliki, who also suggested that the two sides remained deadlocked on key issues. According to the report, Maliki dismissed the delegation headed by the Foreign Ministry and picked his national security advisor Mowaffak Rubaie, chief of staff Tariq Najim and political advisor Sadiq Rikabi to conduct the negotiations in their final stage. The three report directly to the prime minister. Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Hamoud, who led the original negotiations, has been removed, the paper said. Some Iraqis said the reshuffle could undermine the deal, according to the report. "These are diversionary tactics to avoid a decision. It's not a question of negotiating teams. It's a matter of, do you want it or don't you?" the paper quoted an unnamed Iraqi official as commenting on the prospective accord. "They are avoiding the issue. They don't want a status of forces agreement. They don't want a security agreement." US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gave the impression recently that an agreement between the two sides was imminent. But Iraq and the United States remain far apart on the matter of immunity for US forces in Iraqi courts, The Times said. "People gave the impression we were close when Rice was here, but it's not over," the paper quoted the official as saying. "We would have a serious problem if we took it to parliament right now." The official said that if US troops retain immunity, the deal would never be approve by the Iraqi parliament. The sides are also still negotiating a withdrawal date, the official said. The latest version of the agreement, which was read to The Times by the Maliki confidant, said all US forces will leave Iraq by the end of 2011, unless Iraq requests otherwise, the paper said. It also said US troops will withdraw from cities in June 2009, unless the Iraqis ask them to stay. Under the new language, Iraq will also decide when the US military will leave. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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