Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday that the United States must provide a "very clear timeline" for its troops to withdraw in the ongoing negotiations on a security deal.

The talks by the US and Iraqi negotiators "are still underway. They have achieved substantial progress, and are very close to reaching a final agreement," Zebari was quoted by the official al-Iraqia TV as saying.

The agreement would probably be presented to the Iraqi parliament for approval early in September, he said.

The two countries have failed to meet their July 31 deadline of the security deal which will set a framework for the US troops' presence in Iraq after 2008.

The main problematic points in the agreement are the authorization of US military operations, immunity for US soldiers and other issues related to the sovereignty of Iraq, Zebari said, adding that the two sides "are solving these issues."

US President George W. Bush rejected setting a timetable for pulling troops out of Iraq, but he spoke of a general "time horizon" to withdraw from Iraq.

Earlier, the US embassy in Baghdad clarified that the United States and Iraq are working on two kinds of agreements, one is the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) and the other is Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

However, if the two sides fail to reach agreement, Baghdad could seek a further extension of the UN mandate of the multi-national forces in Iraq, even though it has said the current extension is the last.

(Xinhau News Agency August 11, 2008)