'Iraq pact doesn't need Congress's OK'

Crocker, accompanied by Gen. Petraeus, testifies on Capitol Hill

US envoy to Iraq says the Bush administration does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker told a Senate hearing Tuesday that while the Iraqi government would submit the agreement to the Iraqi Parliament for ratification, the US administration had no plans to seek Congress's approval.

”At this point, we do not anticipate that the agreements will have within them any elements that would require the advise-and-consent procedure. We intend to negotiate this as an executive agreement," he said.

Crocker told the Senate's Armed Forces Committee the deal would not establish permanent US bases in the country, invaded by a US-led coalition in March 2003.

He also assured the Senators that it will not tie the hands of whoever takes over from US President George W. Bush when he leaves office in January 2009.

US officials are traveling to Baghdad this week with drafts of two documents - a status-of-forces agreement and a separate “strategic framework” - that they expect to sign with the Iraqi government by the end of July.

They need such a deal to legitimize US operations beyond the end of this year when the current UN mandate, governing their presence, expires Dec. 31. PressTV