Iraq's Deputy Parliament Speaker Khalid al-Attiya said any deal reached by the Iraqi government must be approved by deputies and the document will probably be rejected if American troops are immune from Iraqi law.

According to the Iraqi constitution, any national agreement needs to be approved by a two-thirds majority in parliament, he pointed out.

However, it seems unacceptable to the U.S. to let its soldiers be subject to Iraqi law, analysts say.

Washington has SOFA pacts with many countries, which exempt U.S. troops from trial or prison terms abroad.

Meanwhile, control of military operations and airspace, as well as detention of prisoners are all bones of contention between the two nations.

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2008)