The Iraqi Parliament yesterday delayed a historic vote on the future of US forces in Iraq by 24 hours because of last-minute haggling between different political factions that could end up postponing the decision by another fortnight.

As part of the deal-making, MPs agreed to put the US-Iraqi accord, if approved, to a public referendum. The pact sets out a timetable for US troops to leave Iraq within three years after withdrawing from towns and cities by the middle of 2009.

Muwafaq al-Rubaie, Iraq’s national security advisor, said: "It is not only the Iraqi Parliament that has a role in overseeing this agreement, but the Iraqi people, who will have a referendum on July 30 so they can see if the agreement is correct or not, six months after it comes into effect."

The decision for a referendum meets one of a number of demands by the main Sunni Arab bloc in Parliament. Its 44 MPs will only take part in the main vote if all the demands are met.

Time is running out to pass the security deal before a United Nations’ mandate authorizing the presence of foreign troops in Iraq expires at the end of the year.

Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, says the agreement ensures the return of full sovereignty to Baghdad, with a firm date for the exit of 150,000 US soldiers. Opponents, however, want the American military presence off Iraqi soil faster.

As part of the political drama, Parliament briefly convened this afternoon to announce it would delay the vote until 10:00am tomorrow.

"The general atmosphere indicates there will be an agreement, the leaders have agreed on all the points under discussion except for one," said Mahmud Mashhadani, the Parliamentary speaker, without giving further details.

Among the main players in the ‘Yes’ Camp, the Shia Arab alliance and the Kurdish alliance are onboard along with a number of independent MPs, ensuring that the motion will pass by a simple majority of at least 138.

Mr Maliki however, needs a broader consensus, namely the blessing of Sunni Arab MPs, to gain full legitimacy for the pact, including the approval from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shia cleric.

This puts the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab bloc, in a powerful position.

It is requesting that Parliament approves a resolution, setting out a series of political reforms, before voting on the security agreement. Failure to comply would mean the Accordance Front refuses to vote.

The resolution is still being drafted. It covers a number of tricky issues such as de-Baathification, a system which forces former senior members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to lose their jobs. Many have also faced arrest.

Sunni Arab MPs also want the abolishment of a special tribunal, created to try Saddam and his henchmen. And they are pushing for more equality in the security forces as well as other concessions.

Ayad al-Sammaraie, head of the Accordance Front, said the prospect of a new chapter in Iraq being turned with the withdrawal of US troops means that these long-running complaints have to be tackled.

“People started to think that it was the proper time to raise these issues, which we did not stop speaking about or debating with the Government about,” he said.

Jalal Talabani, Iraq’s President, and the two Vice Presidents, are due to present the resolution, once completed, to the 275-member Parliament to be approved.

MPs will then vote on the security agreement.

Failure to pass the pact tomorrow, however, means that it will probably not be decided on for another two weeks, following a religious holiday.

Scores of MPs are due to fly to Saudi Arabia to take part in the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca ahead of the Eid al-Adha holiday in early December.

Away from the main political wrangling, but sure to make an impact, 30 MPs loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric, remain opposed to the agreement and plans to protest inside Parliament when it assembles to vote.

“We will carry banners to express our rejection of the pact,” Inti Sarar el-Ali, a Sadr MP, told The Times. The banners will bare slogans such as: “No, no agreement”, “No, no signing”, “No, no America”, and “Yes, yes Iraq”.

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