Deal reached for US troops to quit Iraq by 2011

NEGOTIATORS have finalised a deal that will see the complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by 2011, ending an eight-year occupation, the top official in the Iraqi team claimed.

Under the 27-point deal, all American combat troops will be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by next June, said negotiator Mohammed al-Haj Hammoud.

The agreement has already been approved by US president George Bush and needs to be endorsed by Iraqi leaders, he added.

Baghdad and Washington had agreed to “withdraw the US troops from Iraq by end of 2011,” said Hammoud.

The security pact will decide the future of US forces in Iraq once the present UN mandate expires in December.

Bush and Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki had agreed last November to formalise such an agreement by July 31.

The arrangement was delayed by Iraqi leaders over key issues such as a timetable for withdrawal and how many bases Washington would retain.