From Foxnews.com

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Iraq has proposed a short-term memorandum of understanding with the United States rather than trying to hammer through a formal agreement on the presence of U.S. forces, the country's prime minister said Monday.

The Iraqi government proposed the memorandum after widespread Iraqi opposition to U.S. demands emerged during talks on a more formal Status of Forces Agreement. Some type of agreement is needed to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year's end.
"Now there is a memorandum of understanding replacing the draft agreement," al-Maliki told several Arab ambassadors to the United Arab Emirates during a meeting Monday.

The proposed memorandum includes a formula for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, said the prime minister -- an idea opposed by U.S. President George W. Bush.
"The goal is to end the presence (of foreign troops)," said al-Maliki.

The prime minister provided no details on that formula. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the government was proposing a timetable that would be conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.