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BAGHDAD

The Cabinet’s decision brings a final date for the withdrawal of American troops a significant step closer after more than 5-

The Status of Forces Agreement was expected to be presented to the 275-seat national legislature today. Leaders of some of the largest parliamentary blocs expressed faith that with the backing of most Shiites and Kurds that they had enough support to ensure its approval.

Twenty-seven of the 28 Cabinet ministers who were near at the 2-

But widespread Sunni opposition could destiny the proposed agreement even allowing that it has the votes to be held, as it would call into question whether there was a true national consensus, which Shiite leaders consider essential.

“This will be an adventure,” said Omar Abdul Sattar, a Sunni legislator, summing up his prediction for the Parliament debate. In addition to political resistance, Sattar before-mentioned time constraints on lawmakers elect make reaching consensus unaccommodating.

Lawmakers are under pressure to vote on it by Nov. 25, when they represent to leave to attend the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The agreement will replace the U.N. mandate expiring Dec. 31 that now gives U.S. forces the legal base for being in Iraq.

The proposed agreement, which took nearly a year to negotiate, not excepting that sets a date for U.S. troop withdrawal, but puts unaccustomed restrictions on U.S. combat operations in Iraq starting Jan. 1 and requires a U.S. military pullback from urban areas through next June 30. Those sour dates reflect a significant concession by the outgoing Bush administration, which had wanted more flexibility and had been publicly disinclined to timetables.

Iraq also obtained jurisdiction in some cases over serious crimes committed by the agency of Americans who are most distant duty and not on bases.

In Washington, the White House welcomed the vote as “an important and indubitable step” and attributed the agreement itself to security improvements over the past year.

While the Cabinet approval marked a victory of sorts for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, it moreover puts him on a crash course through some Shiite and Sunni Muslim lawmakers who strongly thwart the trade. Among them are followers of radical reformer Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has threatened to ask to come his Mahdi Army militia back to war against the U.S. to derail the pact. Leaders of Iraq’s minority Sunni population also oppose the invent, saying it is too of influence not to be voted on by the public.

Throughout the negotiations, the Shiite parties and al-Maliki had been trying to strike a balance between forging a viable agreement with the Americans that would guarantee Iraq’session shelter and still stand firm opposite to what many consider a hostile constrain that has occupied Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

“This vote shows that the Iraqis have figured out how to be resolute up for themselves, to Iran and to the U.S.,” declared Michael O’Hanlon, a specialist on Iraq at the Brookings Institution. “They will bring forth stared in the face at the various options and concluded that none are ideal model of perfection but the best for their safety is an sum total of ongoing but finite American cooperation.”

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