Supporters
of Muqtada Al-Sadr chant ' No, no
no
America ... No, no, no occupation', in Sadr
City,
Baghdad, May 30.
Sotal Iraq, Iraq
Long-Term Security
Treaty Between Iraq and America 'Rejected'
"There is a national consensus
on rejecting many of the points raised by the American side in this convention,
because they would compromise the national sovereignty of Iraq."
-- Statement By Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim, leader of the majority in Iraq's
Council of Representatives
Translated By James Jacobson
May 31, 2008
Iraq
- Sotal Iraq - Original Article (Arabic)
Baghdad:
Abdul-Aziz Al-Hakim 
, the leader of the
majority in Council of Representatives [Parliament], announced that the Iraqi
and American sides have failed to reach an agreement on a "long-term
convention" between Baghdad and Washington.
The United Iraqi
Alliance issued a statement yesterday [May 30] that
Al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the central party in
the United Iraqi Alliance bloc, confirmed that "there is a national
consensus on rejecting many of the points raised by the American side in this
convention, because they would compromise the national sovereignty of
Iraq."
The statement
added that, "From the beginning we stressed and continue to stress the
importance that any agreement not violate our national sovereignty and the need
for a commitment to transparency with regard to these matters; the people of
Iraq must be well-informed about this, since these matters concern their lives
today and in the future."
[Editor's Note:
Some of the qualms cited by Iraqi leaders are the kind of military operations American troops could carry out, when
Iraqis could be arrested without Iraqi permission, and legal immunity for
American troops and security contractors].
Before leaving
for Stockholm to take part in the follow-up meeting to the International
Compact with Iraq, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari announced that in the next phase, vital
political decisions will have to be taken to complete and deliver a long-term
presence agreement with the United States of America because it is, as he put
it, in "Iraq's best interests," declaring that "talks on this
matter have run their course except for a number of major issues related to
Iraq's future."
Zebari said:
"We have accomplished a lot on the fundamentals of the convention and
talks are now in an advanced stage; these are important political decisions
that are not part of the jurisdiction of technical experts, but are the
responsibility of our nation's supreme political leadership. I therefore
suggest that the National Security Council gather information and take action
on issues and that go beyond the level of the negotiators."
DEMONSTRATIONS
Meanwhile, members
of the Sadrist faction, which is led by the young cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr,
demonstrated after Friday prayers in Baghdad and several Iraqi cities to
announce their rejection of the signing of any agreement between Baghdad and
Washington governing America's presence in Iraq.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
In Sadr City, the
east Baghdad stronghold of the Sadrist faction, a demonstration was organized
which included hundreds of people carrying Muqtada al-Sadr's picture and
banners which read, "For you, for you, Iraq." Demonstrators chanted:
"No, no, no America ... No, no, no occupation."
Sheikh Muhannad
Al-Gharawi, a prominent member in the Sadrist faction, said during his Friday
sermon given in the faction's Sadr City office, that "Iraqi compliance
with this convention would restrict Iraq and give 99 percent of the country to
America." Al-Gharawi, who wore an Iraqi flag, said that the convention,
"would put Americans in every Iraqi home," and he warned that after
Iraq, "such a convention will come to Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other
neighboring countries."
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Demonstrators
also carried banners saying: "No to the Infamous Convention, For it Will
Lead to the Tearing-Apart of Iraq and Make it an Affiliate of the Unjust
Department of Occupation," and, "The Convention Expropriates the
Sovereignty of Iraq."
CLICK HERE FOR ARABIC
VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US June
2, 7:08pm]
