MP: Ayatollah's SOFA conditions not met

An Iraqi lawmaker says none of the conditions set by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani for signing the US-Iraq security pact have been met.

"None of these conditions have been met yet because no final draft has been delivered to the Iraqi nation and Parliament. All we have is the amendments proposed by the Iraqi government and we await the US side's agreement with them," Shia parliamentarian Abdul Karim al-Anzi told the Italian news agency AKI.

According to the MP, Ayatollah Sistani, the most revered Shia cleric in Iraq, along with other senior clerics had earlier set four conditions for the endorsement of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), otherwise they would oppose it.

"The transparency of the agreement; national consensus on signing the pact; Parliament's endorsement; and provisions which would guarantee Iraq's sovereignty and independence are the four conditions set by Najaf's senior clerics," al-Anzi said.

According to the Iraqi official, the country's senior Shia clerics would boycott any agreement which did not meet the conditions and in this case the majority of Iraqi political groups would not back "an agreement which is against the country's national interests".

The remarks were made while Sami al-Askari, another MP, said that the US had rejected an amendment to the draft agreement which would change a SOFA clause about the immunity of US citizens from legal prosecution in Iraq.

Washington has been negotiating a security agreement with Baghdad which would grant immunity from legal prosecution to US citizens in the war-torn country. The agreement, however, was met with fierce opposition from Iraqi political and religious leaders.

The Iraqi cabinet had earlier approved a series of amendments to the US-proposed draft agreement in a bid "to safeguard Iraq's sovereignty and national interests."