British troops face uncertainty in Iraq as government rejects draft agreement

The Iraqi government has placed the 41000 British troops stationed in the country in an uncertain situation by rejecting a draft agreement that required them to give the soldiers legal cover even after the end of the UN mandate at the end of the year.

The decision of the Iraqi parliament to reject the British troops permission to stay beyond the mandate has been termed as a minor hiccup which will be resolved. Gordon Brown was of the notion that the Iraqi Prime Minister had given him his word regarding the issue. It seems highly unlikely that the British troops would be able to leave before the 31st of December.

The agreement that was settled between Baghdad and London determined that British troops would end all combat operations by 31 May and leave by 31 July. Four hundred British troops would be left behind for the purpose of providing training to the Iraqi navy.

The British soldiers faced uncertainty regarding the nature of the legal coverage that they would be provided during their prolonged stay in Iraq. This was because the Iraqi government had rejected the agreement twice. On a separate note Washington and Iraq have agreed on letting the US troops stay in Iraq till 2011.

The Iraqi government is stressing on the fact that a resolution needs to be passed concerning the faith of the foreign troops in the country before the year end. The British and Australian forces are at the forefront of this problem as they want parliamentary cover for their forces.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the proposal made by the British government to the Iraqi government. The Sunni Arab bloc spokesman said that the government is expected to accept the agreement whereas the Shia bloc has claimed that the government is likely to stay adamant on its rejection. The uncertainty within the ruling coalition of Iraq over the agreement is what has caused Hutton to term the rejection of the agreement as a minor hiccup.