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.
UN chief deeply concerned over the escalating violence in Gaza
The tension in the troubled Gaza strip has escalated with the end of the truce. This has caused the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to call for an extension of the truce in order to put an end to the hostilities.
In a statement the press office for the Secretary General was recorded as saying “The Secretary-General is extremely concerned at statements calling into question the continuation of the Egyptian-brokered calm in and around Gaza”.
The Secretary General has expressed his concerns over the escalating violence by saying that it would have dire consequences for the civilians of Israel as well as Gaza. The end of the truce will also jolt the political efforts that are being made in order to resolve the situation.
Ban made an appeal to make full efforts to sustain the calm that was experienced while the truce lasted. He also said that rocket attacks from Gaza need to be stopped and all acts of violence in the region need to be brought to an end.
Moments after the announcement of the end of the six month truce with Israel was announced by Hamas rockets were fired at Southern Israel by another smaller militant group. There were no casualties reported regarding the incident.
The weeks that followed the cancellation of the truce have seen an upsurge in the acts of violence taking place in the region. Around nine rockets were fired from the strip towards Southern Israel on Thursday. A day before Israel had carried out several airstrikes in which they managed to kill one Palestinian.
Israel has managed to cause significant damage to the people of Gaza by closing all the crossing points to Gaza through which humanitarian aid and other basic supplies reach the region.
The hopes for a Middle East peace deal that was being initiated by Palestinian president along with the US President seems to be fading as the time for George W. Bush to step down draws near without any significant efforts being made in that direction. The UN is calling upon both parties involved in the conflict to maintain decorum and curb the acts of violence so that a political solution to the problem can be achieved.