Iraq Says to Discuss Troop Withdrawal with US in June


Iraq Says to Discuss Troop Withdrawal with US in June

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said Baghdad and Washington will negotiate in June the setting of a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from the Arab country.

Speaking to Iraq’s Al-Sabah newspaper, General Khalaf said, in accordance with the Iraqi parliament’s decisions to remove all foreign troops from the country, officials will discuss setting a timetable for the US troops’ full withdrawal in June.

He stressed that the Iraqi government is serious about the full implementation of the parliament’s decisions regarding the US forces’ withdrawal.

General Khalaf explained that the message delivered by the US ambassador to interim Prime Minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, was very positive and included discussing the strategic relationship between the two countries in all its forms.

“The United States has significantly reduced its forces in Iraq as a goodwill gesture, and there are understanding and positive signals from the American side,” he said.

However, General Khalaf emphasized that “the security relationship between Iraq and the United States will continue in the context of training and exchange of experiences even if the withdrawal decision is implemented.”

He concluded that “the negotiations will discuss all forms of relations between the two countries in the economic, cultural, political and security fields established within the Strategic Framework Agreement.”

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military - acting on US President Donald Trump’s order - launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s PMU or Hashd al-Sha’abi, along with eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington had threatened at the time that sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament’s call to end the occupation of the country.

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