Iraqi parliament says it sticks by its law to expel coalition forces
Iraq’s parliament will stick by a law it ratified in 2020 that ordered the government to expel a US-led coalition of foreign forces that have been operating in the Arab country under a so-called anti-terrorism mission.
A Sunday statement from the Iraqi parliament said that deputy parliament speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi had said in parliament session a day earlier that the law adopted four years ago to expel coalition forces is “a fundamental and irreversible piece of legislation” and will not change because it enjoys the support of the Iraqi people and government.
Mandalawi called on the Iraqi government to put the legislation into action and to expand the capacities of the Iraqi security forces instead of relying on foreign forces to fight terrorist groups.
The remarks came after Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said earlier this week that Iraq seeks a quick exit of US forces from Iraq amid growing discontent about their presence in the country.
Sudani said his government will soon start a process to negotiate the exit of coalition forces from Iraq.
That comes as attacks on US forces in Iraq have increased since the start of a conflict in Palestine in early October.
The attacks, which have spread to cover US-controlled targets in neighboring Syria in recent weeks, are aimed at forcing Washington to end its support for Israel’s brutal aggression on Gaza.
“Let's agree on a time frame (for the coalition's exit) that is, honestly, quick, so that they don't remain long and the attacks keep happening,” Sudani told Reuters in an interview in Baghdad on January 9.
Iraq adopted the law to expel foreign forces after a senior commander of the country’s paramilitary forces was killed along with Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.
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