Abdul Mahdi delivers plan on US troop withdrawal from Iraq

TEHRAN, Jan. 05 (MNA) – In a Monday meeting, Iraq's prime minister announced and delivered his country's Parliament plan for ending US troops presence in Iraq to the American ambassador in Baghdad Matthew H. Tueller.

Abdul Mahdi said that the countries must work together to implement US troop withdrawal, after briefing the envoy about ongoing issues in Iraq.

The Iraqi official also told the ambassador that Iraq is doing everything it can to prevent a descent into open war after the US assassinated Iranian commander Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike.

In an extraordinary session on Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted for a resolution requiring the government to order the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

The session came two days after a US drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport which assassinated Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

“There is no need for the presence of American forces after defeating Daesh,” said Ammar al-Shibli, a lawmaker and member of the parliamentary legal committee.

“We have our own armed forces which are capable of protecting the country,” he said, Reuters reported.

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News ID 154245