In about-face, Iraqi prime minister backs troop accord


After months of tough negotiations and multiple revisions, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has decided to back the controversial U.S.-Iraq security agreement that calls for the complete withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2011, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Friday.

Al-Askari said the United States didn't give in to Iraqi demands for the power to prosecute American troops but that al-Maliki decided this was the best deal Iraq could get. Currently the draft says that in cases of a major crime, a joint U.S. and Iraqi committee will decide whether an American soldier was off duty and where he'll be tried.

"There is a realization that this is a red line for the Americans," al-Askari said. "They never did it (before) so why will they do it for Iraq?"

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