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Sunday 11 November 2018 - 12:21

Iraqi MPs plan motion to seek expulsion of US troops

Story Code : 760543
In this file photo taken on February 21, 2017, US troops patrol as a US Army C-47 Chinook helicopter flies over the village of Oreij, south of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. (Photo by AFP)
In this file photo taken on February 21, 2017, US troops patrol as a US Army C-47 Chinook helicopter flies over the village of Oreij, south of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. (Photo by AFP)

MP Ahmad al-Assadi, the leader of the Iraqi Construction Alliance, said the lawmakers will step up their demands that the Iraqi government force US troops leave the country, Arabic-language Arabi21 online newspaper reported.

Calls for the withdrawal of US troops had begun during the last legislature, but lawmakers are now seeking a “clear timetable” for a pullout, he said.

The US, enlisting some of its Western allies, began deploying troops to the Arab country in 2014 under the pretext of fighting Daesh terrorists who were defeated in Iraq last year.

Al-Assadi said, “After the big victory against these gangs [Daesh], the Iraqi government has the right to review the need for American forces on Iraqi soil.”

He said the push for the withdrawal of US forces will double after the new parliament is sworn in, where lawmakers will allow the presence of foreign military advisers and trainers based on the requirements specified by state authorities.

The US has maintained a military presence in Iraq since 2003 when Washington invaded the country under the pretext of destroying weapons of mass destruction which were never found. The invasion plunged Iraq into chaos and led to the rise of terrorist groups.

More than one million Iraqis have been killed because of the US invasion and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

In August, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in Baghdad to condemn US meddling in the Arab country's domestic affairs amid debate over the make-up of a new government.

Earlier this month, Iraq's Foreign Ministry hit out at the US for dictating how the country should deal with neighboring Iran.

Iraq’s former prime minister and leader of the al-Wataniya faction in parliament Ayad Allawi warned earlier this month that new US sanctions on Iran would have deep impact on the Iraqi economy.

Allawi said like the Iraqi government and other political leaders, he was opposed to unilateral US sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Iraq’s al-Maluma news agency reported.
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