BAGHDAD: The United States and Iraq on Saturday held a “first round” of dialogue on the future of US and other foreign forces in the country, with Baghdad expecting talks to lead to a timeline for decreasing their presence.
Iraqi Prime Minister’s office issued a photograph of the head of government with senior officials both of the Iraqi military and of the international coalition set up by the US to fight the ISIS group.
Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani is hosting the start of the first round of dialogue between Iraq and the US to end the mission of the international coalition in his country, his office said in a statement.
Baghdad, Washington Open talks on Foreign Forces in Iraq
Sudani’s foreign affairs adviser, Farhad Alaaldin said that the talks and whatever progress made would determine the length of these talks. The advisor said that Iraq is engaging the other nations taking part in the international coalition for bilateral deals that serves the best interest of Iraq and these nations.
Earlier, the US had said that it had agreed with Iraq on the launch of “expert working groups of army and defense professionals” as part of the Higher Military Commission established in agreement with Iraq.
The working groups would also examine “three main factors”, the US said: “the threat from Daesh, operational and environmental needs and the Iraqi Security Forces’ ability levels.”
In a statement, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh also admitted that the US military footprint in Iraq “will certainly be part of the talks as it goes forward”, indicating that Iraq’s desire for a reduction in these troops is on the table.
The dialogue — which have been planned for several months — come at a time of heightened tensions in Iraq and the region linked to the conflict between Hamas and Israel, which has sparked a surge in assaults on American and other coalition troops.
There have been over 150 assaults targeting coalition forces since mid-October, many of them claimed by the Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked groups that oppose Washington’s support for Israel in the Gaza war. There are around 2,500 US forces deployed in Iraq and around 900 in Syria.
