Baghdad - The Sadrist bloc in Iraq's parliament refused a presidential invitation for a meeting to be held on Friday to discuss the US-Iraqi security pact, the bloc's spokesman said.

The bloc loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which holds 30 of 275 seats in the parliament, opposes the agreement and has demanded a timeline for US troops' withdrawal. Movement loyalists have taken to the street several times to protest the deal.

Washington - US and Iraqi negotiators have reached a tentative agreement outlining the future presence of US troops but it still requires the support of lawmakers in both countries, the Pentagon said Thursday.

The United States and Iraq have been negotiating the pact for months to establish a legal basis for maintaining American forces in Iraq once a UN mandate expires at the end of this year.

The deal will still require the approval of each country's top leaders and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is seeking a support from parliament.

Baghdad - The Iraqi Parliament said on Thursday the top US general in Iraq violated diplomatic norms and interfered in internal affairs when he accused Iraqi lawmakers of taking bribes from Iran.

"(The comments) are an insult to the representatives of the people," the parliament said in a statement quoted by the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

Odierno, who took over the command of the US forces in Iraq in mid-September, had accused lawmakers of receiving bribes from Iran to oppose the passing of a long-term security agreement with the United States,

Washington/Baghdad, Oct. 16 : The governments of the United States and Iraq are reportedly close to reaching an agreement on when American troops will make their exit from Iraq.

The announcement that there is a new draft, while far from final, indicates that the Iraqis are inching closer to final approval.

Stockholm - A Swedish lawyer Thursday said he doubted claims by the US military alleging that they have killed a non-Iraqi individual who was the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A US military statement on Wednesday said that the body of Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara, was positively identified after an October 5 raid in the northern-Iraqi city of Mosul.

Moroccan-born Abu Qaswarah also had Swedish citizenship.

The Swedish Security Service said they had been aware of the 43- year-old, who had been suspected, but never charged, of being active in militant Islamist groups in Sweden.