BAGHDAD — Australia ended its combat operations in southern Iraq on Sunday, while the Iraqi government said it has differences with the United States in negotiations over a long-term security agreement.

The official statement by government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh comes amid growing opposition to the deal among Iraqis who see it as a possible violation of Iraq's sovereignty and are worried about an extended presence of American troops.

Talks "are still in their early stages and the Iraqi side has a vision and a draft that is different" from those being presented by U.S. negotiators, al-Dabbagh said.

He was not more specific about the points but insisted the Iraqi government was focused on "fully preserving the sovereignty of Iraq ... and will not accept any article that infringes on this sovereignty and doesn't guarantee the interests of Iraqis."

The spokesman also said it was too early to discuss dates for an agreement and said each stage of negotiations would be presented to the Iraqi national security council.

His comments came two days after tens of thousands of followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets to protest the deal. Al-Sadr and his loyalists have called for the issue to be put to a public referendum.

U.S. officials insist they are not seeking permanent bases but have not otherwise commented on the negotiations, which the two sides hope to complete by July. The agreement is to replace a U.N. mandate for U.S.-led forces that expires at the end of the year.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said negotiators have made "a great deal of progress" and the government has sent teams to Germany, Turkey, South Korea and Japan to see how they handled the presence of foreign troops.

However, he stressed the situation in Iraq was different because the violence has not ended.

"Our forces and capabilities haven't reached the level of self-sufficiency," Zebari said at a joint news conference with visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. "We need this strategic security agreement ... for the time being. But this is not open-ended."

The U.S. military, meanwhile, faced a dwindling coalition of allied countries providing supporting combat troops in Iraq.

Troops held a ceremony Sunday that included lowering the Australian flag from its position and raising the American flag instead over Camp Terendak in the southern Iraq city of Nasiriyah.

"We have to praise the role of the Australian troops in stabilizing the security situation in the province through their checkpoints on the outskirts of the city," said Aziz Kadim Alway, the governor of the Dhi Qar province.