The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Baghdad

US and Iraqi negotiators have ended efforts to reach a formal security pact before President George W. Bush leaves office in favor of an interim deal, the Washington Post said on Sunday, citing senior U.S. officials.

The two sides had been negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement that would provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to remain when a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

But in the past week Iraqi leaders have spoken of only agreeing what they call a memorandum of understanding. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has also raised for the first time the prospect of setting a timetable for U.S. troops to leave Iraq.

The Washington Post quoted one U.S. official close to the negotiations as saying "we are talking about dates," even though Bush has previously rebuffed calls for a timetable.

Iraq is a major issue in November's presidential election battle between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. McCain supports the Bush administration's current strategy, while Obama has called for a timetable for withdrawal.

The Post said the "bridge" security document would be limited in both time and scope and would allow basic U.S. military operations to continue once the U.N. mandate ended.

Iraq has rejected a number of Washington's demands, insisting they infringe on the country's sovereignty.

The document now under discussion with Iraq was likely to cover only 2009, the Post said.

AFP adds: Roadside bomb attacks in Iraq on Sunday killed at least five people, including three policemen in the former Sunni rebel bastion of Fallujah, police said.

The policemen were killed when two bombs exploded outside the home of a local police captain in Fallujah, a police officer said.

Four people were also wounded in the near simultaneous explosions in the city in western Iraq's Anbar province where violence has fallen drastically since late 2006.

A man and his son were killed in a similar attack east of the central city of Baquba when a bomb struck their car, a local police officer said.

Baquba and its surrounding province of Diyala continues to remain violent despite sustained military assaults by US and Iraqi forces.