Iraq MPs pose legal headache for coalition troops
Legal problems for British forces in Iraq
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Saturday, 20, Dec 2008 05:23
British troops' ongoing presence in Iraq faces legal difficulties after Iraq's parliament rejected proposals backed by the government in Baghdad.
A draft law giving permission for non-US coalition forces to remain in the Middle Eastern country for the first half of 2009 was put before the Iraqi parliament by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's administration and rejected out of hand today.
Those criticising the bill, mainly from Moqtada al-Sadr's Shia faction, said treaties and agreements with other states were more appropriate than legislation for dealing with these issues.
"Legally relations between two countries cannot be organised by a law. They should be arranged, according to international law, through treaties or agreements," Hussein al-Falluji of the Sunni Accordance Front told the Reuters news agency.
The development threatens the presence of Britain's 4,100 troops in Iraq, which prime minister Gordon Brown announced last week would leave the country for good in mid-2009.
Other forces from Australia, Romania, El Salvador and Estonia are affected.
The Iraqi government will attempt to pass the legislation next week. But the BBC reported this may be difficult to achieve and suggested individual agreements with each country may be a necessary alternative.