Washington 0
10 January 2020

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to send delegates to Iraq to lay down the mechanisms for implementing the House’s decision to withdraw forces safely from Iraq”. Abdul-Mahdi additionally informed Pompeo “that there are American forces entering Iraq and American drones flying in his sky without permission from the Iraqi government”, noting that “this is in violation of the agreements in force”. The same day, the U.S. State Department announced that “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.”. The department’s spokesperson further underscored that “there does… need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic and diplomatic partnership”.  

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