Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Shiite lawmaker loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said that comments by top U.S. commander in Iraq over his troops to stay in Iraqi cities beyond deadline of mid 2009 is against U.S. commitments stated in the security pact.

    "We believe that comments by top U.S. troops commander is a clear evidence that the U.S. troops will never leave Iraqi cities by the end of next June according to the security agreement," Ahmed al-Masoudi, spokesman for Sadr movement in the Iraqi parliament said in a statement on Sunday.

    "Iraqis will discover that the government has deceived them about this agreement," Masoudi said.

    On Saturday, Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, said that training and mentoring teams will remain in Iraqi cities after a June 30 deadline for combat soldiers to leave urban areas.

    "It's important that we maintain enough presence here that we can help them get through this year of transition," Odierno said at the U.S. Balad air base where he met with the visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

    He did not say how many troops would remain in joint security bases in Iraqi cities and towns but said all locations would be coordinated with the Iraqi government based on its requirements and needs.

    Last month, U.S. and Iraq signed a security agreement in which U.S. troops are to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns by mid 2009 and withdraw entirely from the country by the end of 2011.