Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: n/a
Date: 6 Sept 2006
Body:
WARSAW, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq and the United States will this weekend
sign a delayed accord under which the US military will hand command of Iraqi
units to the government, Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed
said here Wednesday.
"The agreement was delayed for technical reasons. It will be signed this
weekend," he told reporters at a joint news conference in Warsaw with his
Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski.
A ceremony to mark the start of a process in which Iraq's army, navy and
airforce will move from US oversight and be placed under an Iraqi chain of
command headed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was abruptly called off last
weekend.
No explanation was given other than US officers saying Maliki's government
had requested changes in the handover document.
Earlier this week, a spokesman for the Iraqi defence ministry said lawyers
were fine-tuning the document, but assured that it would be signed in "the
next few days."
Yassem is on a two-day visit to Poland, which has been one of Washington's
most steadfast coalition allies in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Byline: n/a
Date: 6 Sept 2006
Body:
WARSAW, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) - Iraq and the United States will this weekend
sign a delayed accord under which the US military will hand command of Iraqi
units to the government, Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed
said here Wednesday.
"The agreement was delayed for technical reasons. It will be signed this
weekend," he told reporters at a joint news conference in Warsaw with his
Polish counterpart, Radoslaw Sikorski.
A ceremony to mark the start of a process in which Iraq's army, navy and
airforce will move from US oversight and be placed under an Iraqi chain of
command headed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was abruptly called off last
weekend.
No explanation was given other than US officers saying Maliki's government
had requested changes in the handover document.
Earlier this week, a spokesman for the Iraqi defence ministry said lawyers
were fine-tuning the document, but assured that it would be signed in "the
next few days."
Yassem is on a two-day visit to Poland, which has been one of Washington's
most steadfast coalition allies in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.