Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ended a two-day official visit to Jordan Friday saying Iraq's talks with the United States had reached a "dead end" over an agreement on the status of US troops in the country from December 31, according to dpa. Speaking to reporters, he said: "Talks with the American side have reached a dead end because Iraq has found that American demands extremely violate our country's sovereignty and thus they are unacceptable." Al-Maliki said that his government was especially opposed to Washington's insistence on ensuring the "immunity of US troops to trial in Iraq" and allowing them to conduct operations without prior coordination with the Iraqi authorities. The United States, which led the invasion of Iraq in 2003, is reportedly negotiating a legal framework governing the relationship between the Iraqi government and the US troops after December 31 with Baghdad, when their UN mandate expires. Al-Maliki appeared encouraged by Jordanian government plans to appoint a new ambassador to Iraq, but apparently failed to convince Amman to name a date for re-opening the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad that was the target of a fatal bombing in August 2003. "Arrangements have already started for choosing the place and ensuring security" for the Jordanian diplomatic mission, he said. Jordan said it was planning to appoint a new envoy in Baghdad but the Minister of State for Information and Communication Affairs Nasser Judeh said earlier this week that safety and security of Jordanian diplomats "should be secured" beforehand. During the visit, al-Maliki and his Jordanian counterpart Nader Dahabi agreed to an accord signed in 2006 providing Jordan with Iraqi crude oil at "preferential prices" until 2011. A lack of security has hindered the implementation of the agreement which originally foresaw supplying Jordan with between 10 and 30 per cent of its daily oil needs coming to around 100,000 barrels per day. "Conditions are now better than the past for conveyance of Iraqi crude to the kingdom," Dahabi said. Al-Maliki said he appreciated Jordan's hosting of more than 500,000 Iraqis and said his government intended to compensate the Hashemite kingdom by expanding trade with Jordan and allowing Jordanian businessmen a share in Iraq's reconstruction deals.
