Baghdad - A senior advisor, David Satterfield, to the US Secretary of State said Tuesday that the US-Iraqi long-term security agreement will include articles that do not require the approval of congress.

"The treaty will be executive, legal and international between the two sides," Satterfield told reporters in Baghdad.

The pact is not the first to be signed between the US and another sovereign country, said the US official. He added that the importance of such treaty is not symbolic, but significant.

Satterfield said that the US would stress the sovereignty of Iraq and that the country is party to all the negotiations based on national decisions.

Meanwhile, the US congress has expressed concern that signing such an agreement will lock any coming administration in a permanent military presence in Iraq. Members of the congress have repeatedly stressed that the pact must be approved by congress before implementation. With its UN mandate in Iraq set to expire in December, the US government has been involved since March in lengthy negotiations with Iraq over a long-term treaty.

Two agreements are being negotiated. One, known as the strategic framework agreement, would lay out the basis for long-term bilateral relations in the political, economic and security areas.

The other, the status of forces agreement, sets the legal basis for the presence of US troops in Iraq and spells out the legal rights and obligations of the troops.

The treaty should be signed by July.

As the US and Iraq scramble to proceed with their negotiations on the agreement, Iraqis are alarmed by how much military authority the US will have over their country in the future.

Politicians are also concerned that the treaty is alarming neighbouring countries, especially Iran, which the US perceives as destabilizing the region's security. (dpa)