U.S. forces should stay in Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani says

2020-01-24 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News

Nechirvan Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan president, Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2020. Photo: World Economic Forum

DAVOS, Switzerland,— Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan, reaffirmed his government’s support for keeping US and coalition troops in Iraq in order to combat Islamic State (ISIS) during a panel at the World Economic Forum at Davos.

Barzani said that the recent non-binding Iraqi parliament resolution to expel foreign forces from the country was not backed by Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers.

Barzani was speaking on Thursday alongside Iraqi Finance Minister Fuad Hussein, Saudi Arabian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, UN Special Representative for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and Chatham House Director Robin Niblett.

“In our opinion, Iraq needs the help of the international coalition and the US because the resurgence of ISIS and terrorism in Iraq is a serious matter and we think that this goal cannot be accomplished and they should stay in Iraq,” Barzani added.

Iraqi Shiite lawmakers pushed for a resolution to expel foreign forces from Iraq following the US assassination of elite Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and several pro-Iran Shiite militia members at Baghdad Airport on January 3, 2020 leading to a spate of rocket and missile attacks by the US and Iran on Iraqi soil.

“Iraq has been caught in the conflict between Washington and Tehran,” Barzani said.

In his remarks Barzani also addressed the ongoing anti-government protests sweeping Baghdad and the southern provinces.

“We in the Kurdistan Region cannot separate ourselves from what is happening in Iraq are a part of the country. What happens there certainly affects us. What is important for us to see is that Iraq before October 1 is way different than after it,” he said.

“It is really important that the political leaders in Iraq know that the nation and people of Iraq will not tolerate or accept going back to before the protests,” he added.

Hennis-Plasschaert said that she was concerned that geopolitical tensions playing out in Iraq risked distracting the government from taking on needed reforms and forming the new government.

Fuad Hussein said that the federal government regretted the deaths of Iraqi protesters. More than 500 have been killed during the protests and 17,000 wounded. The security forces have been identified as a primary perpetrator of violence against demonstrators.

The panel wrapped up a busy visit to Davos for Nechirvan Barzani who also met with US President Donald Trump, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, and the foreign ministers of Turkey, Oman, and Sweden.

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