The United States will give its formal answer to proposed Iraqi amendments to a controversial bilateral security accord in the coming days, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday.
"We expect to be talking with the Iraqis over the next week," Perino told reporters. "There might be some that we can support; there might be some that we won't be able to support."
The spokeswoman also dismissed concerns that US forces would halt operations in Iraq if no agreement is sealed by the time the UN mandate for the presence of US troops there lapses December 31.
"I don't think anyone contemplates ceasing operations. It's not in our vocabulary. We're focused on trying to get the agreement done," she said.
While the White House has been looking at Iraq's proposed changes to a draft Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Iraq, US Ambassador Ryan Crocker will deliver the formal answer in Baghdad, she said.
The controversial accord, which negotiators have labored over for months, is supposed to be in place by the end of the year to set new guidelines for US military operations in Iraq after the expiration of the present UN mandate.
The draft pact says US forces will withdraw from towns and neighborhoods by the end of June next year and from the whole country by the end of 2011, but has drawn fierce opposition in Iraq on national sovereignty concerns.
In an interview published Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari openly evoked the possibility of seeking to extend the UN mandate if no agreement is reached in time.
"Reports about us looking at an alternative are overwritten. We are focused on getting this agreement done," said Perino.
"I think that their parliament is back in session starting next Tuesday so hopefully we'll make some progress soon," she said.
