Baghdad,The Iraqi and US governments signed a non-binding deal concerning envisaged talks about their relationship in the future, which includes the US military presence in Iraq.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and US President George W Bush had agreed to start formal negotiations next year about the future relationship of the two countries during a video meeting Monday, Iraqi national television reported.

According to the report, the negotiations, scheduled to be going on from early next year to July, would deal with political, economic and security issues, including how the US would keep its military presence here.

Lt Gen Douglas Lute, White House deputy national security adviser, in Washington also confirmed the signing of the agreement.

In the talks, the long-term US presence in Iraq "will be a key matter ", Lute told reporters, adding that it would be too early to determine the size and shape of the presence.

The US has over 160,000 troops in Iraq and there have been very strong calls for an early pullout of the troops.

Washington also plans to seek a new mandate from the UN Security Council to govern the multinational force in Iraq for one more year when the current one expires by the end of this year, Lute added.

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