LOC00:39
21:39 GMT
(With photos)
BAGHDAD, Nov 23 (KUNA) -- Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Sunday the
United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) was fully behind the US-Iraq security agreement,
and disclosed that special teams would be formed to convince parliamentary
blocs to approve the deal.
"The UIA has formed teams to talk to the parliamentary blocs to persuade
them to sign on the security agreement and to listen to their demands,"
Al-Maliki told the press after meeting with UIA officials including its leader
Abdulaziz Al-Hakim.
"The UIA is united and will vote for the agreement," added the prime
minister.
Al-Maliki and the UIA officials discussed, while meeting in Al-Hakim's
office in Baghdad, the positions of the parliamentary blocs vis-a-vis the
controversial security pact.
The UIA asserted in a statement its support for the security agreement
because "it was in the direction of national sovereignty and securing he
foreign withdrawal from the Iraqi territories and preserving the higher
national interests."
It called on all blocs in the parliament to live up to their "historic"
responsibility and vote in favor of the agreement.
The parliament is set to vote on the agreement next Wednesday after two
readings. (end)
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KUNA 240039 Nov 08NNNN