BAGHDAD, 12 May 2007 — Iraqi MPs are trying to drum up votes to force their government to set a deadline for US forces to withdraw from the country and think they have a majority, a leading Shiite politician said yesterday.
Baha Al-Aaraji, a supporter of Moqtada Sadr, said that 144 members of the 275-seat national assembly had signed a draft law that would set a departure timetable for US troops.
“The signatures have been submitted to the speaker of Parliament and, after that, a committee chaired by me was formed,” he said. Aaraji’s committee has asked Iraq’s Defense, Interior and National Security Ministries to suggest a date by which their forces will be ready to take charge of security operations currently overseen by US forces.
“We’ve received two answers and now the committee is holding a series of meetings. We could finish within the next few days, and then the law will be discussed and voted on,” Aaraji said.
“Many people support it. I signed it myself,” said Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman, while insisting that most members regard the vote as a non-binding petition rather than a law that would require a withdrawal.
Othman said Sadr’s supporters were focusing too hard on the withdrawal side of the bill while others, despite supporting the draft, were mainly seeking a role for the Iraqi Parliament in making the eventual decision. “They want to build Iraqi forces to take over when the Americans withdraw. The two processes go hand in hand,” he said, while confirming his support for a timetable.
The moves in Iraq’s Parliament are in conflict with the government’s efforts to delay the departure of the US troops. Baghdad dispatched senior officials to Capitol Hill this week to warn members one-on-one that pulling out US troops would have disastrous consequences. The lobbying push targeted Republicans and Democrats alike.
On Thursday, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh met with more than 30 House Republicans and more than a half-dozen senators. Saleh’s trip came on the heels of a visit by Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, the national security adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, along with three other senior advisers.
