BAGHDAD, July 16 (Xinhua) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday arrived in Iraqi capital Baghdad for an official visit where he confirmed his country's support to Iraq in its war against Islamic State (IS) group.
Le Drian was received by his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein and is scheduled to meet with Iraqi top officials, including Iraqi President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.
In a joint press conference with Hussein, Le Drian said, "Our visit to Iraq aimed at supporting the Iraqi government to face the challenges, including supporting the security forces in the fighting against IS, and we won't relent in front of our common enemy."
He said that "there are disturbing signs of the return of IS group in Iraq, and we should not relent it."
Le Drian expressed his country's support for the operations carried out by the Iraqi forces against the extremist IS group to protect Iraq's sovereignty and its democratic system.
Le Drian also said that Iraq's sovereignty is important and confirmed that his country is looking forward to seeing Iraq "restoring its pioneering role to create balance for the Middle East."
As for the coronavirus pandemic, Le Drian told reporters that France is supporting Iraq in facing the disease.
For his part, Hussein said that Le Drian's visit "comes at an important circumstance and amid many challenges, and is aimed at showing support to Iraq and to strengthen French-Iraqi relations."
"We have discussed a range of issues, including economic relations, the role of French companies in the reconstruction process, as well as bilateral military and security relations," Hussein told the press conference.
In October 2019, Le Drian also visited Baghdad and held meetings with Iraqi top officials, discussing bilateral cooperation and means to end the threat of IS militants.
France is part of a U.S.-led international coalition tasked with helping the Iraqi security forces in the fight against the IS militants by carrying out airstrikes against their positions in Iraq and Syria as well as providing military equipment and training to Iraqi forces.
