(RTTNews) - Iraqi lawmakers have approved a security deal with Britain, allowing the deployment of some 100 British troops and five naval vessels in the country to protect oil sites and train Iraqi security forces, said officials on Tuesday.

For its implementation, the final version of the accord now requires to signed into law by Iraq's presidency council, which is made up of the nation's president and two vice presidents.

The parliamentary approval of the final version of the accord comes months after some 100 British naval troops were forced to leave Iraq because of the lack of an agreement regarding their continued deployment in Iraq.

Following the delay in the parliamentary approval of the deal before the expiry of the 31st July deadline for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, the 100-strong British naval contingent was relocated to a base in neighboring Kuwait.

Though Iraqi cabinet had approved a draft version of the accord in June, the approval of its final text was delayed over repeated walkouts staged by lawmakers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Their boycott of the debates on the final version of the accord ensured that the assembly failed to reach the required quorum ahead of the 31st July deadline for the withdrawal of British troops. The parliament subsequently broke for a summer recess that concluded only last month.

Britain has withdrawn most of its troops from Iraq after the agreement regarding their continued deployment in the country expired on 31st July. Presently, only a handful of British troops remain in Iraq to help in training Iraq police, but operate under the command of NATO.