Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday defended the open-ended presence of US and other foreign forces in his country.
In an interview with the US daily, The Wall Street Journal, Sudani said that he thinks the presence of foreign forces is necessary.
The US and NATO troops have been training Iraqi forces on how to fight the ISIS group.
Foreign troops’ presence is necessary
He said that elimination of ISIS needed some more time and therefore the foreign troops’ presence was necessary.
The United States (US) has nearly 2,000 troops stationed in Iraq to train and advise its forces. NATO has also several hundred soldiers there, in a non-combat role.
Sudani said that his country wanted good relations with both the US and Iran and it was trying in this regard. It is not an impossible task to have good relations with the US as well as Iran.
Sudani added that he would send a top-level delegation to Washington soon, perhaps as prelude to meeting with US president Jo Biden.
