US, Iraq begin dialogue to end international military presence

During the first round of negotiations between the US and Iraq over the future of US military engagement in Iraq, Baghdad discussed expectations that would result in a schedule for reducing US military deployment. Iraq’s prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, met on Saturday in Baghdad with high-ranking representatives of the US-led coalition and the country’s armed forces, according to an Al Jazeera report. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani said in a statement that the joint commission marked “the commencement of the first round of bilateral dialogue between Iraq and the United States of America to end the coalition in Iraq”. “Military experts will oversee ending the military mission of the Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIL), a decade after its initiation and after the successful achievement of its mission in partnership with Iraqi security and military forces,” the statement read. Approximately 2,500 US soldiers are presently stationed in Iraq as part of the alliance that was established in 2014 to assist the Iraqi government in defeating ISIS. In response, the US stated that it intended to form a committee to negotiate the conditions of the mission’s termination, which were initially deliberated about a year ago. But while Israel’s battle in Gaza deepens, militants with ties to Iran regularly attack US forces in Syria and Iraq, prompting US retaliation and Iraq’s accusations of US “aggression” against its territory. (With agency inputs)