Iraq's Cabinet meets to debate, vote on US pact

Iraq's Cabinet met Sunday to debate and subsequently vote on a security pact that will allow American forces to stay in Iraq for three years after their U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

If approved by the 37-member cabinet, the pact will be submitted for a vote in the 275-seat parliament, which is dominated by the political groups making up Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government.

The Cabinet meeting came a day after the country's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, indicated that he would not object to the pact if it is passed by a comfortable majority in parliament. That cleared a major hurdle to the agreement.

An official at al-Maliki's office, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to share the information with the media, said the Cabinet meeting got under way at 10 a.m. but had no further details.

The Cabinet session began shortly after a roadside bomb killed three people and wounded seven in a northern Baghdad district, the latest evidence that violence continues to plague Iraq despite the dramatic improvement in security over the past year.

Proponents of the security pact with the Americans, like al-Maliki's interior and defense ministers, say continued U.S. military presence is needed until Iraq's nascent security forces are capable of independently taking charge of security in the war devastated nation.

The roadside bomb hit a checkpoint belonging to U.S.-backed fighters in the Sunni enclave of Basatin in the predominantly Shiite Shaab district, according to police and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Two of the those killed were members of the local Awakening Council, or Sahwa, one of several names used to refer to the Sunni insurgents and tribesmen who have revolted against al-Qaida in Iraq, joining the U.S. military in the fight against the terror group.

Five of the injured were also Sahwa members.

Sahwa fighters have been frequently targeted by al-Qaida militants since they changed sides in late 2006, with scores of their leaders assassinated and their checkpoints and headquarters bombed.

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Associated Press writer Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.