Iraqi Lawmakers Predict Tough Fight Over U.S. Military Pact

BAGHDAD, Oct. 17 -- Iraq's political leaders on Friday began studying a draft agreement to extend the U.S. military presence here beyond 2008, but some lawmakers predicted the proposal would face a tough fight in parliament.

The accord was expected to face its first test Friday night, as President Jalal Talabani scheduled a meeting of the 23-member Political Council for National Security to discuss it. The advisory body includes political, legislative and judicial leaders.

If approved, the document would then be sent to the Cabinet, and then to parliament.

The U.S. government needs new legal authority to keep its approximately 155,000 troops in Iraq beyond Dec. 31, when a United Nations mandate expires. The new draft accord requires U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities by mid-2009, and to leave the country by the end of 2011.

The months-long negotiations over the pact had broken down over the sensitive issue of whether U.S. soldiers would be tried in Iraqi courts if they violate the law.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Friday that new compromise language in the agreement would permit the U.S. to maintain legal jurisdiction over its forces when they were on their bases or outside them on a mission.

If a soldier commits a crime outside a base while off-duty, a decision on jurisdiction "needs to be made jointly by a subcommittee," Zebari told the Post. But he indicated the U.S. would have the last word. "If the crime is very grave or serious, the U.S. may waive its jurisdiction," he said.

U.S. soldiers rarely leave their bases while off duty.

The U.S. Defense Department, which insists on jurisdiction over its forces stationed around the world, supports the compromise, according to Pentagon officials. But it was unclear whether it would satisfy Iraqi politicians, who have complained bitterly about what they view as abuses committed by U.S. troops and contractors since the 2003 invasion.

In Najaf, the religious capital of Iraq's Shiite majority, a leading cleric blasted the idea of giving U.S. forces immunity from Iraqi law.

"We consider this a basic point because it represents sovereignty," said Sadir Addin al-Qobanchi, in his sermon at Friday prayers at the city's grand mosque. "If someone commits a hostile act against your house and family and you say it is fine and don't hold him responsible, it means that you don't have dignity or sovereignty."

U.S. military and political officials have expressed concern that the agreement may not make it through Iraq's slow-moving political process by year's end. In that case, American forces would have no legal grounds to stay. U.S. officials have begun exploring other options, such as an extension of the U.N. mandate, but that could be politically and legally complicated.