Iraq’s parliament has today rejected a draft law which would allow British and other foreign troops to remain in the country in the new year.

The bill, which was defeated by 80 votes to 68 and would allow foreign troops other than Americans to stay in the country until the end of July 2009, was also rejected earlier in the week on its first reading.

The US, which today announced it is to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, was granted permission to stay in Iraq until the end of 2011 under a separate agreement approved on December 4.

That agreement, which takes effect on January 1, gives Iraq strict oversight over the nearly 150,000 American troops now in the country.

Those opposed to the draft law were primarily lawmakers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Britain will withdraw its 4,000 troops by the end of May.

“Voting was carried out in parliament on the draft law and it was rejected and turned back to the government,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the Iraq parliament.

“The law calls for troops to withdraw in a six-month period and they want legal coverage for their stay, so why refuse it.”

The bill, which is being proposed by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is expected to be approved after further amendment when it is brought before the house for its third reading before the new year.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that British troops would be withdrawn from southern Iraq by the end of July 2009, as envisaged by the draft law.

Military operations will end by 31 May and the remaining 4,100 service personnel will leave within two months. Several hundred trainers will remain, some working with the Iraqi navy.

After the expiration of the UN mandate on December 31 authorising military operations in Iraq, the only coalition troops to remain will be the US, Britain, Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania.

In a separate move, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, announced today that the US is planning to send 20,000 to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

He said: “We’ve agreed on the requirement and so it’s really clear to me we’re going to fill that requirement so it’s not a matter of if, but when.

“We’re looking to get them here in the spring, but certainly by the beginning of summer at the latest.”

Deployment of 30,000 extra troops would double the US presence in Afghanistan. Currently 31,000 US troops are there with some of them operating as part of a 51,000-strong NATO-led force and some operating independently.

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