The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

Iraq's cabinet approved a wide-ranging military pact on Sunday that will govern the presence of more than 150,000 US troops stationed in the country, a source in parliament said.

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.