Iraqi Cabinet Votes To Let U.S. Troops Stay Until 2011

November 16, 2008 10:05 a.m. EST

Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - U.S. troops are another step closer to being able to stay in Iraq for another three years, now that the Iraqi cabinet has approved a security deal.

The deal calls for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by 2011, starting with a withdrawal from Iraqi towns in 2009.

Twenty seven of the 40 cabinet members approved the deal. The prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and 37 other ministers make up the cabinet.

The pact now must be approved by the 275-member Parliament.

Iraq and the United States have been negotiating the pact because the U.N. mandate that allows U.S. troops to stay in Iraq expires in December.