Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Iraq's cabinet endorsed a security agreement with the U.S. that would allow an American military presence in the nation until 2011, a government spokesman said.

The Status of Forces Agreement was approved today by 27 of the cabinet's 37 ministers and now will be referred to parliament, spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a televised press conference in Baghdad. The accord must be ratified by the parliament if it is to become valid.

Iraqi leaders have been divided over when the 152,000 U.S. troops in their nation should leave, with some, such as national security adviser Mouafaq al-Rubaie, favoring President-elect Barack Obama's 16-month schedule. The United Nations mandate authorizing the U.S. forces expires on Dec. 31.

``U.S. troops will pull out of Iraqi cities by June 30 of next year and the entire country by Dec. 31, 2011,'' Dabbagh said. ``As of Jan. 1, 2009, the agreement returns airspace to the Iraqi government, which may seek assistance from experts from the U.S. to help manage it.''

Under the pact, U.S. troops won't be allowed to search Iraqi homes without ``judicial permission and coordination with the Iraqi government,'' Dabbagh said. Also there will be ``no immunity for anyone who violates the law,'' he said. U.S. troops would be subject to some Iraqi law as well as U.S. law, he said.

The agreement forbids the use of Iraqi territory for attacks on neighboring countries, Dabbagh said.

`Important and Positive'

The Bush administration regards the cabinet's approval of the agreement as an ``important and positive step,'' Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said today in an e-mailed statement. ``While the process isn't yet complete, we remain hopeful and confident that we'll soon have an agreement that serves both the people of Iraq and the United States well,'' he said.

Iraq may ask the Security Council to extend the expiring U.S. mandate for as much as a year if the accord hasn't been fully ratified by the end of December, Iraqi UN Ambassador Hamid al-Bayati said Nov. 14.

Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has opposed the proposed accord between the U.S. and Iraq. Hazem al-Araji, a senior Sadrist leader, said today that officials were ``shocked and surprised by this approval, which expresses devotion to the occupation by agreeing to the mandate the occupier wanted,'' according to Agence France-Presse.

Blood of Martyrs

``This approval underestimates the blood of the martyrs, the opinion of the clerics, and the popular rejection of this agreement,'' al-Araji told AFP, adding that supporters will hold a protest in Baghdad on Nov. 21.

Iraq's senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani, backs the security agreement, the Washington Post reported today.

Iraqi lawmakers will meet Nov. 24 to vote on the agreement, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television network said today.

``We have to see the final text that has been agreed on and then wait for some clarifications from the prime minister and other officials when they come and introduce the whole thing to parliament,'' Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker who was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council that took control of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, said by telephone in Baghdad.

``We will have to decide on the type of majority that will be required for it to pass. We are still debating in what kind of majority will be required,'' Pachachi said.

Political Parties

Iraq's 275-seat parliament, known in the country as the Majlis al-Nuwab, which is Arabic for Council of Representatives, comprises more than 10 political parties and alliances broadly arranged along ethnic and religious lines.

The U.K. Foreign Office said talks with the Iraqi government to allow the continued presence of British troops are ongoing. Britain has indicated it may be able to withdraw its remaining 4,100 troops, near the southern city of Basra, within months.

``The withdrawal of U.K. troops will be based on our own agreements with the Iraqi government, which will be designed to bring our bilateral relations to normal,'' the London-based Foreign Office said in a statement today.

Violence has ebbed in Iraq this year after a surge in the number of U.S. troops and support from Sunni tribesmen against al-Qaeda. It has picked up in the last two weeks, with the UN warning that militants may seeking to spread fear as the country prepares for provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 31.

There will 14 U.S. Brigade Combat Teams in Iraq by the end of this year, down from 20 at the height of the surge, Johndroe said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Amman, Jordan at mderhally@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 16, 2008 15:30 EST