Iraq cabinet backs US security pact

The deal draws a line under nearly a year of intense negotiations over the U.S. mission's future. The decision still needs to be approved by Iraq's parliament. The draft pact calls for U.S. forces to leave the streets of Iraq's towns and villages by the middle of next year and to leave the country by the end of 2011. It would place the U.S. force in Iraq under the authority of the Iraqi government for the first time, replacing a U.N. Security Council mandate.

Reuters | November 16, 2008

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