Visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki yesterday said talks with the United Sates on a long-term security pact have reached a "dead end" due to concerns that it might infringe on Iraqi sovereignty.

"We have reached a dead end, because when we started the talks, we found that the US demands would hugely infringe on the sovereignty of Iraq, and this is something we can never accept, " Maliki told media heads in Amman.

"We cannot allow US forces to have the right to jail Iraqis or fight terrorism in an independent way," Maliki added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is on a two-day visit to neighboring Jordan.

Iraq is currently in talks with the United States on a Status of Forces Agreement to replace a UN mandate for US-led forces that expires at the end of the year, which would allow U.S. soldiers to stay in Iraq beyond 2008.

The pact has caused huge concerns both in Iraq and in neighboring countries such as Iran.

Iraqi critics of the agreement said that it means Iraq will be a client state in which the United States will keep more than 50 military bases and American soldiers will enjoy legal immunity.

Earlier this month, Iraqi Vice President Tareq Al Hashemi said in Amman that Iraq would never accept any deal that infringes on its sovereignty and is not in the interest of the Iraqi people.

However, al-Maliki's comments on Friday mark the most outspoken and critical comments yet from the Iraqi side.