Iraq seeks quick exit of US forces, PM says

Baghdad-INA    
Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani confirmed today, Wednesday, Iraq wants a quick and orderly negotiated exit of U.S-led military forces from its soil but has not set a deadline, describing their presence as destabilizing amid regional spillover from the Gaza war.
 
"There is a need to reorganize this relationship so that it is not a target or justification for any party, internal or foreign, to tamper with stability in Iraq and the region," Sudani told Reuters in an interview in Baghdad, followed by The Iraqi News Agency-INA.
Giving the first details of his thinking about the future of the coalition since his Jan. 5 announcement that Iraq would begin the process of closing it down, Sudani said the exit should be negotiated under "a process of understanding and dialogue".
 
"Let's agree on a time frame (for the coalition's exit) that is, honestly, quick, so that they don't remain long and the attacks keep happening," he said, noting that only an end to Israel's war on Gaza would stop the risk of regional escalation.
"This (end of the Gaza war) is the only solution. Otherwise, we will see more expansion of the arena of conflict in a sensitive region for the world that holds much of its energy supply," PM Al-Sudani said.