Iraq parliament passes U.S. security pact

By Ahmed Rasheed and Khalid al-Ansary

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for U.S. forces to withdraw by the end of 2011, taking the country a big step closer to full sovereignty.

The deal, which parliament linked to a series of promised political reforms and a public referendum next year, brings in sight the end of a U.S. military presence that began with the 2003 invasion and ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein.

It will test whether Iraqi police and soldiers are ready to handle security after years of bloodshed between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs who were initially allied with al Qaeda fighters battling U.S. forces.

The pact replaces an expiring U.N. mandate. It gives Iraq authority over about 150,000 U.S. troops in the country, who will be obliged to withdraw from towns by mid-2009, and makes them liable for some crimes committed when they are off duty.

"It is a historic day for the great Iraqi nation. We have made real one of its most important achievements," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an address to the nation.

Lawmakers in Iraq's 275 seat parliament passed the deal with 149 MPs out of 198 present voting for it. The pact consists of a Status of Forces Agreement and a long-term strategic framework agreement, which defines U.S.-Iraqi ties for years to come.

Several hours after it was signed a suicide car bomber killed four people, including two policemen, and wounded 41 others in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said.

Though the deal stipulates an end-2011 U.S. troop withdrawal deadline, Iraq was hopeful its forces would grow capable enough to take full responsibility on their own before then.