The Iraqi prime minister said in Davos that the U.S.-led international coalition helping Iraq fight Islamic State militants is no longer needed, but he still hopes to maintain close ties with Washington.
Updated January 18, 2024 10:20 CST
Iraq’s prime minister says the U.S.-led international coalition helping Iraq fight Islamic State militants is no longer needed, but he still wants to maintain close ties with Washington.
“We believe that the raison d’être of this international alliance has ended,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani told The Wall Street Journal. The war in Gaza is currently damaging Iraq’s relations with the United States.
Sudani did not set a deadline for the international coalition to leave Iraq. The international coalition was formed in 2014 to guide and support Iraqi forces in regaining control of the country’s territory after Islamic State militants seized large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
However, Sudani did not rule out the possibility of U.S. troops remaining in Iraq and providing advisory advice to the Iraqi army under the new bilateral relationship he proposed.
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Iraq’s prime minister says the U.S.-led international coalition helping Iraq fight Islamic State militants is no longer needed, but he still wants to maintain close ties with Washington.
“We believe that the raison d’être of this international alliance has ended,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani told The Wall Street Journal. The war in Gaza is currently damaging Iraq’s relations with the United States.
Sudani did not set a deadline for the international coalition to leave Iraq. The international coalition was formed in 2014 to guide and support Iraqi forces in regaining control of the country’s territory after Islamic State militants seized large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
However, Sudani did not rule out the possibility of U.S. troops remaining in Iraq and providing advisory advice to the Iraqi army under the new bilateral relationship he proposed.
But in an interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sudani expressed broad dissatisfaction with U.S. policy on the conflict in Gaza. Sudani said the West turned a blind eye to the plight of Palestinians before Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and called for more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end Sudani. The genocide described.
Sudani condemned the frequent attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq by Iranian-backed militias, but he also criticized the recent U.S. drone attack on a militia leader in Baghdad as a “clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”
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2024-01-18 02:20:00
