Iraq’s Premier Pushes U.S. to Discuss Exit of Troops

(Bloomberg) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has asked U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to send officials to Iraq to work out a mechanism for the withdrawal of American troops, the premier’s office said on Friday.

The statement, citing a phone call between the two men, suggests that Abdul Mahdi is standing by demands from Iraqi lawmakers for American troops to leave following the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a killing that threatened to turn Iraqi territory into a proxy battleground.

As the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, who oversaw Iran’s foreign military operations, convulsed the Middle East, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel U.S. forces.

It’s unclear, though, how the U.S. will react. President Donald Trump responded angrily to the parliament vote, threatening to sanction Iraq and demanding reimbursement for investments made in the country over the past two decades if the government insists on U.S. forces leaving.

Pentagon chief Mark Esper said Jan. 6 that he believes the Iraqi people and lawmakers still want the U.S. to maintain a presence in the country, 17 years after it invaded to oust Saddam Hussein.

The division between Iraqi Shiites, many of whom feel an affinity to Iran, and the Sunni Muslim minority was evident in the legislature. Sunni Arab and Kurdish legislators boycotted the vote to terminate invitations to host the U.S. military.

Iraq’s top Shiite cleric on Friday denounced “repeated violations” of the country’s sovereignty and the government’s inability to deter the attacks.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said on Friday that no outside power should decide Iraq’s fate.

“The latest dangerous aggressive acts, which are repeated violations of Iraqi sovereignty, are a part of the deteriorating situation” in the region, he said, according to his representative Ahmed Al-Safi.

Iran’s military fired salvos of retaliatory missiles as bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed. Both sides have since backed away from military action, with President Donald Trump appealing for Iranian leaders to negotiate a peace.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams

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