US-Iraq Pact Set for Vote Today

[unhappycamper]

US-Iraq Pact Set for Vote Today
November 26, 2008
Agence France-Presse

Iraqi Members of Parliament are expected today to endorse a wide-ranging accord that will allow U.S. troops to remain another three years, despite reservations by Sunnis and fierce opposition by Shiite hardliners.

The 275-member assembly is due to vote by a show of hands on the wide-ranging accord, which would require U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.

The measure enjoys the support of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Kurdish alliance, and a number of independent MPs -- enough for it to pass with slightly more than the requisite simple majority of 138 votes.

But deputy parliamentary speaker Khaled al-Attiya said the government and the UIA were making a last-minute push to assemble a broader coalition.

"We do not want to pass this agreement with a difference of two or three or four votes," Attiya told AFP on the eve of the vote. "For this reason there are continuing efforts to achieve a vast majority."


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/us-iraq-pact-set-for-vote-today.html