White House Press Secretary Dana Perino responds to a reporters question, Monday, June 23, 2008, during her daily briefing at the White House in Washington. (Xinhua/AP File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    WASHINGTON, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The United States is trying to conclude negotiations with Iraq on a strategic framework agreement, but the deal is not likely to complete as expected at the end of this month, the White House said Monday.

    The planned agreement will lay out the future security, political, economic and diplomatic ties of the two countries, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told a news briefing.

    However, Perino noted that "I don't think that we'll be able to finalize this agreement by next Thursday. We're working toward it, but it might take a few more days after that."

    On the future of the U.S. military presence in Iraq, one of the key points in the U.S.-Iraq negotiations, Perino said "This is a bilateral agreement, and it is solely based on conditions on the ground, which have improved and are likely to continue given the trajectory, as long as we work to cement the gains and maintain sustainable security."

    The spokeswoman also noted that the expected U.S.-Iraq long-term strategic agreement will not spell out a specific date for a withdrawal of American troops.

    "What it will not do is have any sort date tied to combat troops, like how many American troops would be in Iraq at X date. That would not be included," Perino said.

    "I don't know exactly how it's going to read, but it would not include anything about troop levels."

    Prior to her latest remarks about U.S.-Iraq long-term strategic deal, Perino said U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussed in their video conference last Thursday "a general time horizon" for Iraq security transfer.

    The two leaders agreed that the goals would be based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal, Perino said in a statement.

    Washington and Baghdad have been negotiating over a long-term American military presence for months. They hoped to finalize the security pact by the end of July.

    Despite Iraqi demand, the Bush administration has refused to give a timetable for the overall military withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Iraq.