Iraqi MPs on agreement

Members of Parliament in Iraq have authorized the government to sign agreements allowing British and other non-US troops to stay on in the country after 2008.



They approved the move after speaker Mahmoud Mashhadani resigned at the demand of Shia and Kurdish parties, ending a political impasse.



The US earlier struck its own security pact to keep troops in Iraq up to 2011.



Foreign troops\' UN mandate runs out on December 31, after which they require a new legal basis to be in Iraq.



Most of the non-US foreign troops currently deployed in Iraq are British.



Last week UK prime minister Gordon Brown said the British troops are due to leave Iraq by the end of July next year.



Other foreign, non-US troops include Australians and Romanians.



Meanwhile, El Salvador announced on Tuesday it would end its military presence in Iraq on December 31.