Debate on Iraqi pact ends in scuffles

Timetable for departure
Under the agreement, which reflects an improving security climate, U.S. troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of next June and from the entire country by Jan. 1, 2012. It would give the Iraqis almost complete control over their operations and movements but limited judicial jurisdiction in the case of serious crimes committed by U.S. soldiers when off-base and off-duty.

The agreement also would bar the Americans from using Iraqi territory to attack neighboring nations.

The United States defended the agreement Wednesday, with Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell saying the document provided the time and authority needed for American troops to train Iraqi forces and go after terrorists.

Morrell spoke as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to Capitol Hill to explain and defend the agreement to Congress.

In a nationally televised address Tuesday, al-Maliki also defended the treaty, saying it was a prelude to the restoration of full Iraqi sovereignty by 2012. He said the alternative would be renewing the U.N. mandate, whose terms he said compromise Iraq's sovereignty, or leaving Iraq's nascent security forces to fight alone after that mandate expires Dec. 31.

Protest planned
Sadrist lawmakers appeared to hope to derail the pact by trying to tangle up parliament and preventing a vote as the session nears its end for the year.

The assembly is scheduled to recess late this month or early December for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. Dozens of lawmakers will then travel to Saudi Arabia for Muslims' annual pilgrimage to Mecca, denying parliament a quorum to debate or vote on the pact.

Al-Sadr has a long history of conflict with the United States, launching several uprisings against U.S. forces since they occupied Iraq in 2003. He threatened this month to resume attacks on U.S. forces if they don't immediately begin to withdraw from Iraq.

He called for a mass prayer Friday at a central Baghdad square to protest the agreement.

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