Baghdad: Iraq regained sovereignty from the US-led coalition today (June 28, 2004), but with no formal status of forces agreement in place between the US military and the newly independent Government, according to the coalition military spokesman.

"There is no formal status of forces arrangement document," said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the coalition's deputy director for military operations.

"We have been operating under UN Security Council Resolution 1511 and now we're operating under UN Security Council Resolution 1546."

UN Resolution 1546 gives coalition forces all "necessary" authority to carry out operations in Iraq, including launching offensive operations without any formal Iraqi veto and the Right to detain Iraqis, without formally charging them.

A senior coalition official told last week there would be no status of forces agreement with Iraq's interim Government and such a deal could only be struck with a sovereign Iraqi Government.

Instead, the coalition forces' presence in Iraq would be sanctioned by the new UN Resolution and an extension of the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) Order 17 that grants troops immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts, the official said.

Kimmitt said today he believed CPA Order 17 was still in place.