Serious decisions announced during the PM weekly press conference

INA - BAGHDAD PM Adil Abd Al-Mahdi held his weekly press conference in Baghdad on Tuesday. The conference included a brief media on operations to secure Iraq’s borders, the situation in Basra, public services, and other developments. "I visited our military and security establishments, and met few senior commanders to follow closely the progress of operations to secure our borders with Syria and hunt down Daesh remnants. There will be no hiding place for terrorists in Iraq," said Abdul Mahdi. He also added that there is a determination to adhere to the timetables in terms of delivering on the undertakings outlined in the Iraqi government programme which was approved by parliament. Abdul Mahdi asserted that there are efforts to work with parliament and others to fill the eight remaining Cabinet posts. "I expect that we will be able to complete this over the next few days," added Abdul Mahdi. He also addressed the grievances of the people of Basra, and improving services in this city. As for his meeting with the Supreme Judicial Council, he commented, "We set on prosecuting authorities to resolve all legal cases arising from last summer’s protests in Basra" He noted that there is serious work with Parliament on the scrutiny timetable of the draft 2019 Federal Budget. "It is very important that the executive and legislative branches of government work together to ensure the smooth passage of legislation," PM Abdul Mahdi also met today with two traffic police officers who were unjustly abused while on duty by a protection team of a senior official. He commented, "We will not tolerate such conduct against our public servants. I therefore instructed that legal measures be taken to ensure that such appalling incident never happens again,"