Al Sudani wants foreign troops in Iraq ‘organised’

Iraq is in talks with a USled international coalition formed to fight ISIS in 2014 to organise foreign troops in the country, says Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.

The country has a security apparatus capable of handling any threats, he said.

“Our stance in this regard [the presence of foreign troops, mainly US forces] is clear; Iraq doesn’t need combat troops. Period,” Mr Al Sudani told state TV channel Al Iraqiya on Tuesday.

In 2003, the US led an international coalition to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein’s regime, claiming it was developing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

None was ever found and Iraq was plunged into chaos.

Nine years later, the US withdrew, leaving behind a small number of troops to protect the US embassy and to train and assist Iraqis.

At its peak in 2007, the force numbered 170,000.

However, combat troops returned in 2014 to fight ISIS, which controlled about a third of the country at the time, as the US-trained Iraqi security forces melted away.

Despite the defeat of ISIS by the end of 2017, about 5,000 troops remained, along with others from the international coalition, to suppress the terrorist group.

In 2020, president Donald Trump reduced the number of soldiers to 2,500.

In 2021, both countries agreed to end the US combat mission by December that year, shifting its role to an advisory and educational one.

“The presence of the international coalition needs to be organised and the form of this relation needs to be redrawn,” Mr Al Sudani said. How long the troops need to stay, their mission, duties and co-ordination, should be “defined in a clear and transparent way and put in a legal frame to be presented to the political parties and parliament”, he said.

“The government is now in dialogue with the coalition,” Mr Al Sudani said. “We have formed a team to lead this dialogue and we will reach the final formula to organise the presence of the international coalition troops.”

The presence of US troops in Iraq has been controversial. After defeating ISIS, Iranbacked militias and Tehran called for their withdrawal.

Tension mounted in 2019 and early 2020 after a US drone

Despite the defeat of ISIS in 2017, about 5,000 troops remained, along with others from the international coalition

strike killed Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, along with senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis at Baghdad Airport.

Mr Al Sudani took over in late October. He was the nominee of the Iran-aligned Co-ordination Framework, the largest group in the Iraqi parliament, with 138 out of 329 seats.

The group comprises powerful Iran-backed Shiite militias and political parties.

Mr Al Sudani said last month that the “elimination of ISIS needs some more time”, when asked about the presence of US troops.