Baghdad  - Iraq's parliament on Monday completed the first reading of the final draft of the country's security pact with the United States, as opponents continued to denounce it.

As lawmakers were considering the deal, one policeman was killed and more than 30 people were injured in attacks across Iraq.

The 275-member house is set to review the pact over the coming days and vote on the deal by November 24, deputy speaker Khalid al- Attiyah said in a press conference.

The agreement outlines the timeframe for the withdrawal of US troops and the legal basis for the future presence of US troops in Iraq after a United Nations Security Council mandate expires at the end of this year. The deal provides for a complete withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2011. More than 140,000 US troops are currently stationed in Iraq.

Parliamentary Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani cancelled leave for all lawmakers and suspended foreign and out-of-town visits to guarantee that a decision is reached before the assembly goes into recess for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday in early December.

The Iraqi cabinet approved the measure Sunday and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker signed the deal in Baghdad on Monday. However, it still needs parliamentary approval before it can be signed by the US and Iraqi presidents.

The proposed deal is still met with widespread opposition in Iraq, where many say they have not had a chance to learn the details of the agreement.

Shiite and Sunni powers, who oppose the pact, are now insisting on holding a national referendum on it. President Nuri al-Maliki has said parliamentary approval would suffice.

Loyalists of anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr held a meeting on Monday in which they renewed calls for holding a national referendum and insisted that "Iraqis should have the last say in accepting or rejecting the agreement."

The bloc loyal to al-Sadr holds 30 seats in the parliament. They are the most vocal critics to the deal and reject the US presence in Iraq. Movement loyalists have taken to the street several times to protest the deal. They are expected to hold another demonstration on Friday in response to al-Sadr calls.

Sunni powers are also calling for a referendum.

A lawmaker in the influential Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, which holds 44 seats, threatened that the bloc will not accept the pact unless it is put to a referendum.

"The Iraqi Accordance Front was clear in its position when it said that this pact is a national right and should be presented to the Iraqis for a vote," Abdel al-Sattar al-Karbouli said in a statement posted on the Front's website.

Al-Karbouli also said that Iraqi Minister of Women's Affairs Nawal al-Samaraie, who is backed by the Front, refused to vote for the pact during Sunday's cabinet meeting to protest the lack of plans for a referendum.

Al-Samaraie has reportedly also demanded that the US military free Sunni security detainees not charged with specific crimes, rather than hand them to Iraqi authorities as provided by the agreement.

On Sunday Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said that all but one of 28 Cabinet ministers present in the meeting voted for the pact.

Attacks continued on Monday.

A car bomb exploded near the telephone company in the centre of the southern Iraqi city of Amara, injuring at least 18 people, with two of them in critical condition, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

Most of the injured were civilians, according to the report. The predominantly Shiite city is located some 390 kilometres south of Baghdad.

In the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, 364 kilometers north of Baghdad, a blast wounded seven, according to the province's security chief.

Local sources had said the blast took place in the area between the headquarters of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Faculty of Fine Arts, reported Aswat al- Iraq.

In central Mosul, a policeman was killed and six others wounded when a car bomb went off near al-Dawasa area, a Nineveh police source told Aswat al-Iraq.

Mosul, the capital city of Nineveh province, lies 405 kilometres north of Baghdad. (dpa)