BAGHDAD — The U.S. responded Thursday to Iraqi proposals for changes in the draft security pact that would keep American troops here for three more years, saying it now considers the text final and it is up to Iraq's government to push the process to approval.

U.S. and Iraqi officials would not release details of Washington's response, which was contained in a letter from President Bush to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

But a senior Iraqi official familiar with the negotiations said Washington accepted some proposals and rejected others, presumably an Iraqi demand for expanded legal authority over American troops and Defense Department contractors.

The official would not elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Iraqi lawmakers have said the demanded changes are essential to winning parliament's approval before the Dec. 31 deadline, when the U.N. mandate for the U.S.-led coalition expires. Without an agreement or a new mandate, the U.S. would have to suspend all military operations in Iraq.

"We have gotten back to the Iraqis with a final text," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington. "Through this step, we've concluded the process on our side."

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least 13 people near the Afghan border today, security officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks that a top American general said has eliminated three militant leaders.The strikes are likely to trigger fresh anger from Pakistan's civil and military leaders, who say they undercut support for their anti-terror efforts, and from many of its 170 million people.The suspected cross-border attack took place in Kam Sam village in North Waziristan region, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida militants blamed for attacks on U.S. troops in neighboring Afghanistan and rising attacks within Pakistan.A Pakistani intelligence official said an agent who visited the village reported that 13 suspected militants had died.The official said the targeted house belonged to a local Taliban commander and that authorities were still trying to determine who exactly was killed.

JERUSALEM — The Bush administration has conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is no longer possible by the end of its term and is preparing to hand the fragile, unfinished U.S.-backed peace effort to President-elect Obama.Obama may not want it, at least as designed by the Republican Bush administration, seen as slow to embrace the role of honest Mideast broker. Many of Obama's foreign policy advisers were players in the Clinton administration's extensive Mideast peace efforts and are unenthusiastic about President Bush's hands-off approach.