US pact hits snag as Iraq Shi'ites seek changes

A landmark pact to allow US troops to stay in Iraq until 2011 hit its first major political snag yesterday, with Iraq's ruling Shi'ite parties calling for changes just days after a "final draft" was unveiled.

The draft of the pact was agreed last week after months of difficult negotiations between Baghdad and Washington, and Iraqi officials had previously described it as a final text unlikely to be renegotiated.

But the Shi'ite alliance, which includes Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa Party, said its leaders had reviewed the pact at a meeting on Saturday and were not happy with all of it.