Iraqi PM refuses to retaliate against US travel ban
Iraq will not make any decisions harmful to the national interest of the country, said the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Iraq will not make any decisions harmful to the national interest of the country, said the Prime Minister on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi said he would not respond to the US executive order regarding immigration with retaliation recommended by the Iraqi parliament.
“We will not do anything of the sort,” Abadi stated during a weekly conference in Baghdad.
“We are studying [possible] decisions but we are in a battle, and we don’t want to harm the national interest,” he continued.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump banned entry for 90 days to people from seven Muslim-majority nations: Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen.
Iraqi and Kurdish forces are one of the ground troops in the forefront fighting the Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq.
There are currently 5,000 US troops in the country providing advice and training support to the local forces.
“You come to the victim to hold him accountable, to the people who are sacrificing, who are fighting terrorism, to punish them,” Abadi added, saying the executive order was an insult to Iraqi nationals.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Foreign Relations Committee in the parliament held a meeting and called on the federal government to ban American nationals from entering the country in response to the new US administration’s order.
“Iraq is on the forefront of the battle against terrorism,” Iraqi MP and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee Hassan Shwird stated. “It is unbelievable to treat Iraqis this way.”
Moreover, Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the influential Shia clerics in Iraq, released a statement on his website calling for the expulsion of Americans in the country.
“It would be arrogant for [Americans] to enter Iraq and other countries freely while barring them entrance to your country...therefore, you should get your nationals out,” Reuters quoted him.
Ahmed Assadi, the Spokesperson of Hashd al-Shaabi armed forces known as the Popular Mobilization Forces trained by Iran in the fight against IS, released a statement on his social media account.
Assadi urged Abadi to treat American nationals in the same executive order issued by President Trump’s new administration.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany