U.S. Army Maj. Malcolm Chandler of the 1-8-2 National Police Transition Team, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division talks to some off duty Iraqi National Police about identification card replacement needs at their outpost outside Forward Operating Base Loyalty in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct. 7, 2008. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Brian D. Lehnhardt, U.S. Army. (Released)Iraq PM Says U.S. Troops Will Leave If No Pact
-- Yahoo News/Reuters
-- Yahoo News/Reuters
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq will not seek to extend the U.N. mandate of U.S. troops and they will pull out immediately if Iraqi parliament fails to approve a pact allowing them to stay until 2011, Iraq's prime minister said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was speaking after Iraq's leaders met with recalcitrant politicians on Sunday to try to persuade them to accept the pact, which gives the United States three years to phase out a military presence that started with a 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
"Extending the presence of the international forces on Iraqi soil will not be our alternative," Maliki told journalists. "The alternative will be their immediate withdrawal from Iraq."
Leaders of every major political bloc apart from followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr attended late evening talks behind closed doors on Sunday, as the government struggled to win broad acceptance of the pact.
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