Iraq, U.S. Sign Status Of Forces Agreement

November 18, 2008 7:56 p.m. EST

Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - Baghdad and Washington signed Monday a new security accord that sets the deadline for the withdrawal of 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to Dec. 31, 2011.

Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki immediately called for public support to the pact and urged lawmakers to ratify the Status of Forces Agreement signed by Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker at a ceremony in Baghdad.

The SOFA also gave Iraqi courts authority to try off-duty U.S. soldiers who commit serious crimes in Iraq, assured that no permanent American military bases will be established in Iraq and preserves the Iraqis right to manage its natural resources.

Meanwhile, radical and anti-American Sunni cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on followers and the 275-member parliament to reject the deal. He called the deal "the sale of Iraq and its people," according to Freep.com.