US military chief Adm. Mike Mullen said on Tuesday that Iraq should decide as quickly as possible whether or not it wants American soldiers to stay in the country. Mullen, who is on a visit to Iraq, also said that US soldiers should granted immunity from prosecution as part of any deal to keep them in the country and this protection should have the approval of the Iraqi parliament. Iraqi leaders are currently meeting in Baghdad to decide whether to allow foreign forces on their soil beyond a Dec 31st deadline.

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Kamal Kirkuki , the parliament chief of the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, said Tuesday that American forces must stay beyond their scheduled departure deadline at the end of this year because security situation in the country remains fragile. The US has repeatedly asked the Iraqis to decide whether they want some troops in the country after 2011. Kirkuki’s views stand in sharp contrast to those of the powerful Shi’te coalition in Baghdad which strongly opposes the presence of almost 50,000 American troops in Iraq after the end of 2011.

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