Iraq to announce end date for US-led coalition mission 'soon'

BAGHDAD

An announcement on the date of ending the mission of the US-led international coalition in Iraq will be made soon, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Tuesday.

"Today, Iraq in 2024 is not the same as Iraq of 2014, we have defeated Daesh/ISIS with our sacrifices and the Iraqi people's position," al-Sudani told Bloomberg in an interview.

"We found that the justifications (for the coalition's mission) have ended, there is no longer a need for a coalition of 86 countries," he added.

The Iraqi premier explained that there are understandings of the arrangements for the coalition's withdrawal.

He, however, said that the end of the coalition’s mission doesn’t mean "a breakdown between Iraq and the coalition countries including the US," adding that Baghdad is holding bilateral talks with

Washington on building "sustainable security relationships."

"We moved from a period of wars to a period of stability. Daesh/ISIS doesn't pose a threat to the (Iraqi) state," he stressed.

The US currently has a military presence of about 2,500 personnel in Iraq as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve effort, according to the Pentagon.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar