US rejects Iraq’s pullout request

Washington, Jan. 10: The United States on Friday rejected a request by Iraq’s caretaker prime minister to send a delegation to start preparations to pull out its 5,200 troops in the country.

“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said.

Iraqi leaders were infuriated by a US drone strike at Baghdad’s airport that killed Iran’s most prominent general and parliament voted Sunday to rescind an invitation to foreign troops.

Caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi asked that the United States send a delegation in a phone call with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mahdi “requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement parliament’s decision for the secure withdrawal of (foreign) forces from Iraq,” his office said.

The State Department defended the US troop presence.

It said that it aimed at fighting the Islamic State group. “America is a force for good in the Middle East,” Ortagus said in a statement.

“We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign, prosperous and stable Iraq,” she added.

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple dictator Saddam Hussein, sparking bloodshed across the country.

After a withdrawal ordered by former president Barack Obama, US troops were invited back in 2014 to help defeat the extremist Islamic State.

But under President Donald Trump, Iraq has increasingly become a proxy battleground between the US and Iran. Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqis rallied across the country on Friday, reviving a months-long protest movement against the government and adding criticisms of both the US and Iran to their chants.

The anti-regime demonstrations had been overshadowed recently by spiralling tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Fearing their movement would be eclipsed by war, Iraqi activists posted calls on social media in recent days for a mass protest on Friday.