Initial agreement reached on withdrawal of US troops from Iraq

Iraqi and US teams negotiating a controversial security pact have reached an initial agreement that states that US troops will withdraw from Iraq between 2010 and 2011, the pro- government Iraqi Al-Sabah newspaper reported Monday. . . .

The US and Iraq have been negotiating the security pact, also called the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), . . .

However, after months of disputes and criticism, the United States and Iraq are working on a short-term 'memorandum of understanding' instead.