BAGHDAD, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament postponed Wednesday the vote on a security agreement with the U.S. to Thursday, the parliament speaker said.

"I announce that the parliament session is postponed to tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT)," Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani told the lawmakers in the brief parliament session.

"We have been informed that the general atmosphere indicates that there would be an agreement," Mashhadani said.

"The leaders of the political blocs have agreed on all the points that they discuss, except one point," he said without giving further details about the delay.

The delay came as political leaders were making intense negotiations to gain the support of major Sunni bloc, Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF).

Iraq's cabinet endorsed the agreement last week, but the Sunnisare demanding a referendum on the pact and concessions from the Shiite-led government on issues like political reforms in exchange for their approval.

Khalid al-Asadi, a lawmaker from the ruling Shiite alliance said before Wednesday's session that political blocs had accepted to hold referendum.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has rallied the support of the largest Shiite party union and the Kurdish group, which have combined members of 136 in the 275-seat parliament. The situation makes a simple majority passage very likely despite the opposition of the IAF, which has 44 seats.

However, Iraq's revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has said he wants a broad support of the pact.

Hardline lawmakers led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been insisting that they will reject the pact.

According to the security agreement, or U.S. withdrawal deal, the U.S. troops will pull out of cities and towns in the first half of 2009 and leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
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