Iraq PM wants off US list

BAGHDAD // Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi yesterday asked US president Donald Trump to remove his country from a travel ban list.

Iraq is one of seven countries whose citizens are barred from entering the US for 90 days under an executive order signed on January 27. The ban was suspended by a court a week later and an appeal court refused to reinstate it, but Mr Trump vowed to continue the legal battle to keep his order in place. “The prime minister stressed the importance of a review of the decision on the right of Iraqis to travel to the US,” Mr Abadi’s office said.

In a phone call, he urged Mr Trump to “lift Iraq from the list of countries mentioned in the executive order”. “Mr Trump stressed the importance of coordination to find a solution to this issue as soon as possible and that he will direct the US state department in this regard,” said the Iraqi government. Washington is a key economic, political and military ally for Baghdad, most crucially in a war against ISIL which has lasted almost three years. Mr Abadi had argued when the decree was issued that the measure, which Mr Trump presented as an effort to make America safe from “radical Islamic terrorists”, was tantamount to punishing those fighting terrorism. The statement said Mr Abadi wished to further develop relations with the US, and Mr Trump renewed an invitation for him to visit.

Mr Trump has also asserted that the US should have seized Iraq’s oil before withdrawing its forces in 2011.