Baghdad  - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Monday he was seeking a short-term memorandum of understanding for a US troop withdrawal instead of a long-term agreement in ongoing talks on the presence of those forces in Iraq.

In a meeting with Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates, al-Maliki said the aim was to reach a memorandum on the withdrawal of US troops, including a timetable for pullout, that would preserve Iraqi sovereignty, the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.

Baghdad and Washington have been negotiating a long-term security pact to lay down the legal bases for the continued presence of US troops in Iraq after a UN mandate expires in December.

Iraq's political powers are strongly opposed to any agreement that would compromise the country's sovereignty and powers over its airspace and territories.

Among the contentious points under negotiation is the scope of powers the US military in Iraq would have to carry out operations and arrest Iraqi nationals.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told lawmakers last week that the US has dropped a contentious demand that private security contractors working for its army in Iraq be granted legal immunity. (dpa)