BAGHDAD - Iraq will open talks with Washington over a military training mission to last beyond a 2011 pullout deadline, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Wednesday, after months of US appeals for a decision.

The move is a key first step to reaching an agreement on the future of the US troop presence in Iraq, but any final deal still needs to resolve contentious details such as the size of the force, the duration of their stay and whether they would enjoy immunity from prosecution.

"The political blocs have agreed to let the government start negotiations with the US side only on the issues of training," Zebari told AFP, following an hours-long closed door meeting of Iraqi politicians, which began on Tuesday evening.

"This is a declaration of intent to let the government start the negotiations," Zebari said, but noted that there were as yet "no details about the numbers or about new agreements".

It was not immediately clear when the discussions would begin.

President Jalal Talabani, who hosted the talks, said in a statement that there was a general consensus on opening the negotiations, except for representatives of radical anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's parliamentary movement.

Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters engaged in bloody battles with the US army in the years following the 2003 invasion, though the militia has since been deactivated.

A US embassy official said that they were reviewing the decision.

Approximately 47,000 US troops remain stationed in Iraq, all of whom must leave by the end of the year under the terms of a bilateral security pact signed in 2008, which remains in force if a deal for a training mission is ultimately not agreed.

Wednesday's decision follows a visit to Iraq by Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, during which he insisted US forces needed a decision "now".

"Time is quickly running out for us to be able to consider any other course," Mullen told reporters at a news conference at the US military's Victory Base Camp on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.

Mullen, who met Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Talabani during his two-day trip, also insisted that any deal would require parliamentary approval stating that US soldiers stationed in Iraq would enjoy immunity from prosecution.

When asked if the issue of immunity was raised at the meeting, Nasser al-Ani, head of Talabani's presidential office, responded: "We only focused on discussing the issue of training."

US and Iraqi military officials assess Iraq's security forces to be capable of maintaining internal security, but note the country is lacking in terms of defending its borders, airspace and territorial waters.

Iraq's top military officer Lieutenant General Babaker Zebari has repeatedly said that his forces will require training for another decade before they are fully capable of securing the country.

Analysts note that it is still unclear whether the drawdown of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan is Barack Obama's tactic for re-election or a change in US foreign strategy.

Wednesday's news came days after the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen warned in a report that the country was less safe than it was one year ago and that security was deteriorating.

In another development, US Army General Martin Dempsey will become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after the Senate confirmed his appointment on Tuesday.

Dempsey, 59, will replace Mullen, who has held the post since 2007, as the highest-ranking US military officer at the end of September.

AFP-China Daily

(China Daily 08/04/2011 page11)