Iraq talks advance on deal for US troops (click here)
By Sudarsan Raghavan in Baghdad
Published: July 3 2008 03:00
Last updated: July 3 2008 03:00
The US and Iraq are making progress towards forging a complex political and security agreement to allow US troops to operate legally in Iraq next year, Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday.
"We have reached a comfortable stage of negotiations and the differences have been narrowed," said Hoshyar Zebari.
The comments came two weeks after Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, said that the negotiations had "reached a dead end".
The talks have been bogged down by concerns over Iraq's sovereignty as well as a growing fear of a possible long-term US presence. A United Nations mandate sanctioning the US role in Iraq is due to expire on December 31 and US officials have said they would like a deal completed by the end of this month....
....An American Blackhawk helicopter has been shot down in Afghanistan in a province bordering the capital, Kabul.
The aircraft was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade, a military spokesman said.
The pilot managed to land the craft and get the crew and passengers to safety before it caught fire, he said.
Meanwhile, the governor of Nimroz province in the south-west of the country has survived a suicide attack, which killed four other people.
Governor Ghulam Dastageer Azad said the attack took place on a convoy of vehicles he was travelling in....
