US, Iraq close to troop pullout deal
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US troops could be withdrawn from Iraq's cities by the middle of next year under a new security deal being hammered out by the American and Iraqi Governments.
The security deal will come into effect when the United Nations mandate governing military operations in Iraq expires at the end of the year.
The new agreement will set out a broad withdrawal timetable for US troops.
It is believed the security deal will see American troops pulling out of Iraq's cities by the middle of next year.
The big sticking points continue to be American demands that US soldiers be immune from prosecution under Iraqi law, and a consensus on just when US troops will pack up and leave.
Iraqi officials have said they want all combat troops out of the country by 2011 at the absolute latest.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who made a surprise visit to Baghdad overnight, says the new deal has been made possible by the success of the so-called military surge.
"The reason we are where we are today is that the surge worked. Iraqi forces have demonstrated that they are strong and getting stronger," she said.
Dr Rice is keen to have what she says is an aspirational timetable.
"Obviously the American forces are here, the coalition forces are here, at the invitation of the Iraqi Government," she said.
"It is a sovereign government. What we are trying to do is put together a deal that protects our people, that respects Iraqi sovereignty, that allows us to lay the foundation that we need to complete the work that we've all sacrificed so greatly to see accomplished - and that work is being accomplished.
"The goal is to have Iraqi forces responsible for the security of Iraq."
The US and Iraq hope to sign the new deal within the next few months.
