By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 24, 2008; A07
BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 -- Iraq's parliament on Tuesday night signed off on a security agreement that would allow thousands of British troops and a few hundred soldiers from a handful of other countries to stay in Iraq until next summer.
The approval, which was delayed by recent fights in parliament, paves the way for the Iraqi government to sign a security agreement with Britain that covers small contingents from Australia, Estonia and Romania.
Those troops will be authorized to stay in Iraq until July, and their departure will mark the end of the "coalition of the willing."