Tehran - Iraq was forced to approve a security agreement with the United States that sets a schedule for the withdrawal of US forces, an Iranian cleric said Friday.

"The security bill was eventually approved but the Iraqi side (which) acted rather out of expediency because they were told (by the US) to either accept it or face the consequences," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, spokesman of the senate-like Guardian Council, said at the Friday prayer ceremony.

Under the security agreement, US troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.

Tokyo  - The Japanese government on Friday decided to begin a complete withdrawal of its military from Iraq by the end of December, media reports said.

The pullout order was to be announced later in the afternoon as Prime Minister Taro Aso and his cabinet agreed on the withdrawal at a morning meeting.

The government decided to end its airlift assistance because Iraq's political and security situation has improved, the Kyodo News Agency reported, citing government officials.

Baghdad - After months of controversy, the Iraqi parliament on Thursday approved the security agreement with the United States to set the timetable for a US forces pullout from the country.

Under the security agreement negotiated between Washington and Baghdad, US troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.

The pact will be effective from the beginning of 2009 after the current United Nations Security Council mandate expires.

"The agreement is a national achievement and a new era of self governing and security," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

Brussels - The European Union should permanently re- settle up to 10,000 Iraqi refugees currently living in camps in Syria and Jordan into Europe, EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels decided on Thursday.

The council of EU ministers "invites member states to take in Iraqi refugees in a particularly vulnerable situation such as those with particular medical needs, trauma or torture victims, members of religious minorities or women on their own with family responsibilities," a joint statement said.

Washington- The United States on Thursday welcomed the Iraqi parliament's approval of a security agreement that sets the timetable for a US forces pullout from the country.

US ambassador in Baghdad Ryan C Crocker in a message from the US State Department in Washington said that the agreement would strengthen the partnership between the US and Iraq.

Under the security agreement, US troops would withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011.

Baghdad - Iraq's parliament was preparing Thursday to vote on a controversial security pact to determine the future of US troops in Iraq after the Tawafuq Coalition and the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue announced their support for the deal, al-Arabiya television reported.

The Tawafuq Coalition, which backs the pact, holds 44 seats in the 275-member parliament, while the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue has 11 seats.

Deputy speaker of parliament Khaled al-Attiyah said "the agreement will pass by the greater majority and I congratulate the Iraqi people for this great achievement."