Immunity issue clouds U.S.-Iraq talks on troops

(CNN) -- U.S. and Iraqi officials are set to negotiate a legal framework for American troops to stay in Iraq, but legal immunity for U.S. troops and contractors remains a sticking point.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking to reporters Thursday in London, England, said he thinks meetings in Baghdad can lead to an agreement.

The two sides are at loggerheads over whether U.S. troops and contractors would be subject to Iraqi law if they are accused of committing crimes in Iraq, among other issues.

The Iraqis are demanding jurisdiction, while Washington is resisting the proposal.

Gates said the U.S. team would put forward "some ideas that perhaps meet both the Iraqi and our concerns on some of the remaining issues," but he gave no details.

A United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year. Washington and Baghdad have been in negotiations for months to produce a status of forces agreement, which would govern U.S. military operations in Iraq, and a strategic framework agreement, which would cover a wide range of areas of cooperation, from the economy to education.

The United States has indicated it does not necessarily expect to have a status of forces agreement in place by the end of the year and is likely to seek a temporary operating protocol.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki expressed frustration earlier this week at the lack of progress in negotiations, which have been going on for months.

In televised remarks Wednesday, the Iraqi leader said the "point of great disagreement" is U.S. insistence on immunity from Iraqi law for U.S. troops and contractors aiding them.

Baghdad wants the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes that are not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit "grave mistakes" in the course of their duties. Al-Maliki said the United States is rejecting both.

He also wants the U.S. to refrain from military operations without the prior approval of the Iraqi government.

The two sides also disagree over how long detainees can be held, al-Maliki said.

Iraq wants the U.S. to hand over Iraqi detainees within 24 hours, al-Maliki said, while the U.S. wants Iraqis to hand over American detainees immediately.

Al-Maliki said each side should be be required to hand over detainees in the same amount of time -- either 24 hours or immediately.

He suggested the end-of-the-year deadline for agreement is critical because it is unlikely a new U.N. mandate could be worked out. Iraq will not accept the mandate in its current form, he said, and the United States will not accept Iraqi amendments.

U.S. says bombing suspects killed

The U.S. military said it killed seven people near Tikrit on Friday, including four suspected terrorists involved in roadside bombings. Iraqi police said all of the dead were civilians.

Iraqi and U.S. military officials agreed that three Iraqi women were among those killed by a U.S. airstrike.

An Iraqi child was pulled alive from the rubble after the airstrike and was receiving medical help, the military said.

The U.S. military said troops, using intelligence reports, were targeting a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq member who was known as the "emir" of roadside bombings in the Muqtadya area. He led a roadside bomb and suicide bomb network in the Tigris River Valley and would "brag about his victims," the military said.

Troops surrounded a building where the suspect was believed to be hiding in Ad Dawr, a town 87 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, the military said.

"Despite nearly an hour of multiple calls and warnings that the force would engage them, the individuals inside refused to come out," the military said.

An armed man, who later was determined to be the suspected terrorist, was shot dead when he appeared in the doorway, the military said.

Airstrikes then were called by U.S. troops against those still in the building, the military said.

While three more suspected terrorists were killed, the airstrikes also killed three women, the military said.

The military said a terror suspect who fled to a nearby mosque later was captured by Iraqi soldiers.

A Salaheddin police official said eight people, all civilians, died when the U.S. airstrikes destroyed the building.

The U.S. military said 38 people have been killed or wounded in 25 roadside bombings in the area since the first of August.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

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