19 Jan 2019; MEMO: Spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, revealed the mechanism for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq, pointing out that the US has not yet set a date for the withdrawal of its forces.
Khalaf announced in statements on Friday, that the Iraqi government submitted a request to the United Nations for the withdrawal of international forces combating Daesh, according to a memorandum sent by the former foreign minister, Ibrahim Al-Jaafari.
Khalaf also stressed that Iraq will not have any financial and political commitment, as a result of these forces’ withdrawal from its territories.
He explained that the Iraqi authorities issued an order on 3 January prohibiting the flight of aircrafts of the international coalition in its airspace.
Accordingly, the radar signal was withdrawn from these forces. “However, these forces have gone beyond their duties and carried out bombings of foreigners and Iraqis, which necessitated the Foreign Ministry to summon the US ambassador to Baghdad to denounce this behaviour.”
Khalaf confirmed that Iraq is a member state of the international coalition. He insisted that any movement at the level of air sorties through Iraqi airspace take place only after the approval of the local government, which he states: “Has recently been surprised by the air strike carried out by US aircrafts in Qa’im, resulting in the deaths and injuries of 90 victims from the support forces of the Iraqi army, under the pretext of targeting an armed faction in the region.”
