Sad Day For Bush/ McCain: Iraq 'Deal: fixed date' on 2011 troop pullout

BBC

The Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has said agreement has been reached with the US to end the foreign troop presence in the country by 2011.

He told tribal leaders in Baghdad the two parties had agreed on a "fixed date, which is the end of 2011".

The deal, which has been in negotiation for 10 months, still needs to be approved by the Iraqi Presidential Council and by the parliament.

There are currently around 147,000 US troops in Iraq.

On Friday, a senior Iraqi official said the draft security agreement included the withdrawal of US forces from all Iraqi urban areas by June 2009.

The 27-point agreement reportedly includes a compromise allowing US soldiers some immunity under Iraqi law.

It is thought some US troops could remain beyond 2011 to train Iraqi security forces.

The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Baghdad says the 2011 date has been discussed as "aspirational" by the Bush administration in past, but Mr Maliki's comments are the strongest indication of the Iraqi wish to have all US troops out of the country by then.

There has been no confirmation of Mr Maliki's comments from the White House or from Iraqi diplomats in Iraq.