Baghdad postpones announcement date of US-led forces exit from Iraq

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 2024 22:30

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry says the decision was due to "latest developments".

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US Army soldier stands outside an Iraqi family home in al-Anbar in western Iraq on January 27, 2018 (AP)

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that the final withdrawal of the US and coalition forces from Iraq has been delayed due to the "latest developments".

"The presence of the international coalition advisers in the person of advisers of all nationalities on the territory of Iraq will be completed. Negotiations continued on the details of the withdrawal of advisers and the resolution of logistical issues," the ministry said. "We were close to announcing the final date of this agreement, but due to the latest developments, the announcement was postponed," it added without providing further details.

The United States has carried out several strikes in the past months against Iraqi factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces PMF – a governmental security apparatus – including one that targeted a site belonging to the Defense Ministry. Several Iraqi citizens were killed in the attacks.

The aggressions came after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched a phase of operations against Israeli targets and US forces in Iraq and Syria, in response to the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza and Washington's direct involvement in it.

The Iraqi government adopted a law to expel foreign forces following the assassination of top Iraqi and Iranian anti-terror commanders, martyrs General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.

Destabilizing presence

Earlier this year, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani emphasized the necessity of ending the coalition's presence in the country.

Additionally, the spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) Brigadier General Yahya Rasool stated on Sunday that the government of Iraq is determined to terminate the deployment of foreign troops associated with the US-led military coalition, which was originally formed to combat ISIS.

"The end of the US-led coalition mission is a necessity for the security and stability of Iraq. It is also a necessity for preserving constructive bilateral relations between Iraq and the coalition countries," Sudani said then.

Following the US' wide aggressions on areas in Iraq, the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi parliament said in February that the US-led coalition forces present in the country are "destabilizing the situation," and called on the government to expedite the reaching of an agreement on their withdrawal.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and US President Joe Biden revealed last April that they will work together to ensure the withdrawal of a US-led coalition in Iraq. However, no concrete developments or measures have taken place since then.