Senior MP: Maliki Seeks US Troops' Pullout from Iraq

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iraqi lawmaker underlined the necessity of an immediate US military pullout from his country, and said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also shares the same view.
"The Iraqi prime minister wants the Baghdad-Washington security agreement to be implemented provided that the other political factions do not take an opposite stance," Head of the Iraqi parliament's Culture and Media Commission Ali al-Shalah said on Monday.

Shalah also stressed that a majority of Iraq's population demand a serious implementation of the agreement and want an immediate end to the US military presence in their country.

He underscored the Iraqi security forces' capability to establish security in the country, and said, "If the security agreement is implemented, Iraqis are able to maintain security completely."

Earlier media reports said that the US has pressed senior Iraqi officials to revise their decision on the US pullout and demand Washington to keep its troops in the country beyond their scheduled departure in the yearend.

Iraqi state officials as well as religious and political figures have all condemned the US intention and attempts to extend the mission of its troops in the country.

Late in April, Maliki announced that Iraq no more needs the US forces to protect its internal security, and underlined that his government will not bow to the pressures exerted on Baghdad to accept an extended US military mission in the country.

"The Iraqi government and parliament will not heed foreign pressures when making their decision on this issue and they will do what is to the interests of the Iraqi nation," Maliki said during a press conference in Baghdad at the time.

Asked if the US forces will leave Iraq based on the security pact between the two countries, he said, "The issue is still being studied and the government and parliament will decide about it in the near future after studying all the relevant aspects."

Also, senior Iraqi Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Kazzem al-Hosseini al-Haeri condemned the attempts made by Washington to prolong its military deployment in Iraq, and issued a Fatwa (religious decree) against the presence of the US forces in the country after the end of 2011.

"The extended mission of the infidel occupiers in Iraq even for one single day after the mentioned date (as cited in the security agreement) is haram (religiously forbidden)," the Grand Ayatollah declared in his decree.

Meantime, a spokesman of the Shiite Sadr Movement earlier this month underlined the necessity for the immediate withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq's soil based on the landmark agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington earlier.

"Our position is clear and transparent. The occupiers should leave Iraq's soil completely by the end of this year based on the agreement they have endorsed with our country," Salah al-Abidi told FNA.

The spokesman further strongly blasted the recent statement issued by the US embassy in Baghdad alleging that Sadr Movement is not the representative of the Iraqi people, and reiterated that the comments indicate the American official's fear of the Iraqi nation.

Sadr Movement is the biggest and most popular political party in Iraq which enjoys 40 seats at the parliament, Abidi said.