Iraq's foreign minister says the United States has agreed to end the
legal immunity of foreign security guards operating in Iraq.
Hoshyar
Zebari told Iraqi lawmakers Tuesday that Washington made the concession
during negotiations with Baghdad on a long-term security pact.
U.S.
officials have declined to discuss details of the talks, but have
expressed hope a deal will be reached by the end of this month.
U.S.
authorities have granted foreign security guards immunity from
prosecution under Iraq's legal system since the 2003 invasion.
Iraqi leaders have complained that the guards are not being held accountable for excessive use of force against Iraqi civilians.
In
another development, Iraq's largest Sunni parliamentary bloc has taken
a step toward rejoining the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki.
The Iraq Accordance Front presented Mr. Maliki
Tuesday with a list of five candidates for Cabinet posts. Parliament
must now approve the candidates.
The bloc pulled out of Iraq's
national unity government last August, saying the Shi'ite-led
administration was not making enough concessions to the Sunni minority.
In
violence on Tuesday, a truck bomb exploded near the house of a Sunni
sheikh in northern Iraq, killing one person. Police say the blast in a
town south of Mosul wounded at least 25 other people, including the
sheikh.
Elsewhere, a series of attacks killed at least five people in Diyala province in northeastern Iraq.
Foreign
security contractors working in Iraq for the U.S. Defense Department
are subject to U.S. military justice, but the status of State
Department contractors is unclear.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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