The United States has not reached a final deal with Iraq on the future of U.S. forces in the country and such discussions are still continuing, the White House announced Monday.

"These discussions continue, as we have not yet finalized an agreement," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

Meanwhile, the State Department said the deal reached with Iraq was only a "draft agreement".

"What the negotiators agreed on was a draft agreement. It still has to go through a number of levers in the Iraqi political system before we actually have an agreement from the Iraqi side," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

According to media reports, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said earlier Monday that his country and the United States have reached an agreement that there will no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011.

The two sides have been negotiating a controversial military security pact on the future of the U.S.-led foreign forces in Iraq as a U.N. mandate expires in December.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2008)