Maliki reveals impasse over US forces long stay in Iraq

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said that talks with the US on a long-term agreement allowing US forces to remain in Iraq have "reached an impasse."

Speaking in the Jordanian capital, Amman, Maliki said the American demands infringed Iraqi sovereignty.

With the UN mandate for US forces to be in Iraq expiring at the end of 2008, the US wants a deal by July.

The deadlock came as Mehdi Army leader Moqtada Sadr said only a select group of the militia should fight US forces.

In an apparent attempt to reassert control over the militia, the radical Shiite cleric said only a limited number of the estimated 60,000-strong group should be authorized to battle US troops in Iraq.