US troops will leave Iraq within three years provided that the security situation stabilises, according to a draft agreement on the status of forces following the December expiry of their UN mandate. No unilateral operations by US combat troops will be allowed from January 2009 and any arrests must first be approved by a joint Iraqi-US taskforce, according to the draft laid out in comments on 14 August to a UK newspaper by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosh-yar Zebari. The agreement - yet to be formally approved by the Iraqi parliament - should also eventually address control of Iraqi airspace, the long-term presence of US operational bases on Iraqi soil and the issue of immunity from prosecution for both US troops and US military contractors.
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