On 17 November 2008, in Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, Ambassador of the United States, and Hoshyar Zebari, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq, signed the agreement on the withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the organization of their activities during their temporary presence, in English and Arabic, each text equally authentic. It is not Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 and it does not extend the mandate in Security Council resolution 1790. The Iraqi Council of Ministers had approved it the day before.

Article 1: the Agreement determines the principal provisions that regulate the temporary presence, activities and withdrawal of the United States Forces. Article 4: the Government of Iraq requests the temporary assistance of those Forces to maintain security and stability, including operations against al-Qaeda, other terrorist groups, outlaw groups and remnants of the former regime. Such operations are conducted with the agreement of the Government of Iraq, coordinated through the Joint Military Operations Coordination Committee and, if unresolved there, forwarded to the Joint Ministerial Committee. The Parties retain the right to legitimate self-defence within Iraq, as defined in applicable international law.

Article 12: Iraq has the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over members of the United States Forces and of the civilian component for the grave premeditated felonies to be enumerated by the Joint Committee, when committed outside agreed facilities and areas and outside duty status; Iraq also has the primary right over United States contractors. The United States has the primary right inside agreed facilities and areas, during duty status outside them, and in other cases. Persons arrested by Iraqi authorities are handed over to United States Forces within 24 hours; custody remains with those Forces where Iraq exercises jurisdiction. Article 22: no detention or arrest (except of members of the Forces and of the civilian component) except through an Iraqi decision; handover to competent Iraqi authorities within 24 hours; houses may not be searched except by Iraqi judicial warrant, except in actual combat operations conducted pursuant to Article 4.

Article 24: all United States Forces shall withdraw from all Iraqi territory no later than 31 December 2011; all United States combat forces shall withdraw from Iraqi cities, villages and localities no later than 30 June 2009, once Iraqi Security Forces assume full responsibility in a province, and shall be stationed in agreed facilities and areas outside them. Each Party recognizes the sovereign right of the other to request departure, or to withdraw, at any time. Article 7: storage of defence equipment shall be proportionate to the temporary missions and shall not be related, directly or indirectly, to weapons of mass destruction.

Article 27: upon request by the Government of Iraq, the Parties immediately initiate strategic deliberations and, as may be mutually agreed, the United States takes diplomatic, economic or military measures to deter a threat; Iraqi land, sea and air shall not be used as a launching or transit point for attacks against other countries. Article 28: upon entry into force, the Government of Iraq has full responsibility for the Green Zone and may request limited and temporary support. Article 30: the Agreement is effective for three years unless terminated sooner; it terminates one year after written notification; it enters into force on 1 January 2009, following an exchange of diplomatic notes confirming constitutional procedures. The Council of Representatives ratified it on 27 November, the Presidency Council on 4 December.

It is not the Strategic Framework Agreement for a Relationship of Friendship and Cooperation signed the same day, not resolution 1790 (which ends on 31 December 2008, as Article 25 records) and not a NATO status-of-forces agreement.

Image: Republican Palace in the Green Zone, Baghdad; jim.gordon, 6 December 2007; CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement. Treaty text: Agreement Between the United States and the Republic of Iraq on the Withdrawal of United States Forces, Baghdad, 17 November 2008.