Iraqi government calls for US-led coalition troops to ‘end presence’ in the country
▶ Prime Minister states intent to ‘reorganise’ relationship with foreign forces after talks with Spain’s Sanchez
Iraq wants all foreign troops to leave the country as the government looks to “reorganise” its relationship with the US-led coalition against ISIS, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has said.
The US is among the countries with troops who remain in Iraq after the extremist group was defeated in 2017.
Mr Al Sudani on Thursday announced plans to have foreign forces depart when he spoke alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose country also has soldiers in Iraq.
“With the presence of capable Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is heading towards ending the presence of the international coalition forces,” Mr Al Sudani said.
The announcement came as clashes continued between US forces and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
The militias have intensified attacks against military bases that house American personnel since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Tehran supports various militias in Iraq.
The US has responded to the drone and missile attacks with air strikes that have killed at least 16 militants so far.
Iraq’s government condemned the attacks carried out by the militias as “terrorist acts” and called the retaliatory US strikes an “infringement to Iraqi sovereignty”.
The coalition’s mandate “must be within the framework of supporting security forces in areas of training and advice without exceeding the limits to engage in military operations as it constitutes a violation to the Iraqi sovereignty, and that is something rejected”, Mr Al Sudani said.
US President Joe Biden authorised the strikes against the militias and said the move was an act of self defence.
“I directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel who are in Iraq conducting military operations pursuant to the 2001 Authorisation for Use of Military Force,” Mr Biden said in a letter to Congress.
The violence in Iraq and Syria has been fuelled by the conflict in Gaza.
Iranian authorties blamed Israel for an air strike in Syria that killed a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Thousands gathered in Tehran on Thursday as Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led funeral prayers for Razi Mousavi.
Crowds at the funeral chanted slogans against Israel and the US.
The Iraqi government is working to end the presence of foreign troops from the US-led coalition against ISIS, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has said.
Mr Al Sudani’s announcement on Thursday followed an increase in violence between the US military and Iran-backed Shiite militias, including air strikes on three militia bases in central Iraq this week that killed one and wounded 18.
The militias have been launching almost daily drone and missile attacks against US troops in Iraq and neighbouring Syria. Washington has retaliated with air strikes that have killed 16 fighters.
The Iraqi government has denounced the attacks by militias as “terrorist acts”. It called the US strikes an “infringement of Iraqi sovereignty”. American troops make up the largest contingent of foreign forces based in Iraq as part of the international coalition formed to defeat ISIS.
US forces remained after ISIS was defeated to help Iraq’s military defeat sleeper cells and prevent the group’s resurgence.
“We are in the process of reorganising this relationship,” Mr Al Sudani said alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, which also has troops in Iraq.
“With the presence of capable Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is heading towards ending the presence of the international coalition forces.”
Iraq says the remaining foreign forces are not combat troops but advisers, supporting Iraqi security forces with training, consultancy and intelligence gathering.
“We have stressed the commitment to the legal authorisation granted by previous governments for this presence,” Mr Al Sudani said.
This mandate “must be within the framework of supporting security forces in areas of training and advice without exceeding the limits to engage in military operations as it constitutes a violation to the Iraqi sovereignty, and that is something rejected”, he said.
The US says its strikes in Iraq are acts of self defence.
“I directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel who are in Iraq conducting military operations pursuant to the 2001 Authorisation for Use of Military Force,” President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress about the latest US air strikes.
He said Monday’s strikes “were taken to deter future attacks and were conducted in a manner designed to limit the risk of escalation and minimise civilian casualties”.
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.
No such weapons were found and the invasion plunged Iraq into chaos.
The US withdrew from Iraq, leaving behind a small number of troops to protect its embassy and to train and assist Iraqi forces. At its peak in 2007, the US military presence was about 170,000 soldiers.
Foreign combat troops returned in 2014 when ISIS seized about a third of the country after the depletion of US-trained Iraqi security forces.
After the defeat of ISIS in Iraq in 2017, the US started to reduce the number of its troops from about 5,000 to 2,500.
Other countries from the international coalition also reduced troop numbers.
Iran-backed Shiite militias and Tehran have frequently called for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.
Mr Sanchez, appearing alongside representatives of major Spanish companies, said Madrid would support the sovereignty of Iraq.
“My country, always at the request of the Iraqi authorities, will support the unity, sovereignty and stability of Iraq,” he said.
Mr Al Sudani said both sides had agreed to prepare a oneyear agenda to promote a strategic partnership.
Mr Sanchez said their countries would issue a joint declaration outlining areas for co-operation. An Iraq-Spain Joint Committee meeting in mid-2024 will be “an important station to push the relations forward”, he said.
Mr Sanchez visited Spanish troops at a military base in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, where he thanked them on behalf of Spanish society for their “efforts and sacrifices in favour of international security and stability”.
“In Iraq, Spain has demonstrated for many years now our solid commitment to something that seems to have been questioned in recent years: multilateralism,” he said.