Iraq Parliament rejects draft law on non-US foreign troops

BAGHDAD - Parliament rejected for the second time yesterday a draft law allowing foreign troops from countries other than the United States to remain after the end of the year, lawmakers said.

The law drafted by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would allow all foreign troops other than Americans to stay in Iraq until the end of July 2009. It was rejected earlier in the week, and faces another vote after Christmas.

Those opposed to the draft law were primarily lawmakers loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

A separate agreement approved recently by the Iraqi government and parliament allows the United States to retain troops in the country until the end of 2011. The accord, which takes effect on Jan. 1, gives Iraq strict oversight over the nearly 150,000 American troops in the country.

"Voting was carried out in parliament on the draft law and it was rejected and turned back to the government," Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said.

Britain will withdraw its 4,000 troops by the end of May. After the Dec. 31 expiration of the UN mandate authorizing military operations in Iraq, the only coalition troops to remain will be from the United States, Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Estonia, and Romania.

In another development yesterday, Maliki denied reports that there were any Iraqis in the security forces or military conspiring to launch a coup against the government. His statement came after the arrest of nearly two dozen Iraqi officials who allegedly were conspiring to revive Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party.

"Whoever talks about a coup in this country is imagining things. There are no coups in Iraq, and there is no one who is thinking about making a coup," Maliki said at a sports ceremony. He said Iraq is a democracy and there is "absolutely no place for thinking of coups while there is freedom and the people have the ability to express themselves through the ballot."

His comments came amid conflicting reports yesterday about the release of the arrested officials and whether their detentions were related to accusations they were conspiring to revive the Baath party.

A judge last week dismissed the charges against all the men, the Interior Ministry said. But National Security Minister Sherwan al-Waili said yesterday 19 men were still being held. The arrest order had originally included 23 officials, but four were not detained.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani insisted for a second day, however, that the men including some from his ministry had been released. The director of Bolani's office, Ahmed Jaleel, reiterated that news of the release is correct.

It was unclear why the two ministers, both Shi'ites, were offering contradictory accounts.

Late Friday, Bolani said the investigating judge ordered the officials released "because they are innocent."

But Waili said the arrests and ensuing investigation were related to violations that included forgery and had "no relation with any political motivations," clouding the explanation for the arrests.

He added that "the case and charges raised have no relation with a coup as it was said but is something related to violations inside the Interior Ministry."

Some Iraqi politicians had speculated the arrests were part of campaign to bolster Maliki's power before two key elections next year - at the expense of Sunnis and secular figures.