Iraq-US agreement to hold a meeting on ending the military presence

Baghdad - INA

The Iraqi government agreed with the United States of America, today, Thursday, to hold a meeting on ending the military presence at the end of the year.

The media office of the Prime Minister said in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the Prime Minister, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, received an American military delegation headed by the Commander of the US Central Command, First Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie, accompanied by the American ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller," noting that "the Prime Minister stressed during the meeting the importance of concerted international efforts against the threat of terrorism and extremist takfiri ideology, which threatens the region and the world at large.".

Al-Kadhimi added, according to the statement, that "Iraq will remain proud of the victory it achieved against the most powerful terrorist organizations in the modern era."

Prime Minister indicated that "the initiatives of support and training that Iraq obtained from all of its brothers and friends were a key element in achieving that victory, and in raising the level of capabilities of the security forces in a way that enabled the government to move in its relationship with the international coalition, to the stage of ending combat missions.".

For his part, General McKenzie praised the continuous growth of the capabilities and skills of the Iraqi security forces, and their ability to play combat roles against terrorism efficiently and courageously, with the task of the international coalition moving to advice, training and intelligence cooperation, and noted that "the decrees that took place today, witnessed the handover of the leadership of the coalition." To Major General John Brennan, succeeding Lieutenant General Paul Calvert, is one step towards achieving this transition."

McKenzie stressed that "reducing the level of the US military presence will not weaken the US commitment to the broader strategic relationship with Iraq, in the political, economic, cultural and other fields, as well as the security relationship, according to the outcomes of the strategic dialogue between the two countries."

The statement continued, "It was agreed during the meeting to hold a new meeting of the Iraqi Military Technical Committee and its American counterpart, in order to implement the remaining steps of the strategic dialogue outputs, especially with regard to ending the presence of American combat forces at the end of this year, after the reduction of the level of military representation to the leadership was achieved, in line with the new non-combat phase of its role in Iraq.