Iraqi PM al-Kadhimi: Iraq does not need US combat troops

With the threat of an ISIL resurgence ever-present in Iraq, al-Kadhimi stressed Baghdad was not seeking a full withdrawal.

Iraq’s prime minister has said his country no longer requires American combat troops to fight ISIL (ISIS), but a formal timeframe for their redeployment will depend on the outcome of talks with US officials this week. Mustafa al-Kadhimi said in an interview with The Associated Press news agency that Iraq will still ask for US training and military intelligence gathering, but will seek a timeline for the withdrawal of combat troops, which was announced in April amid ongoing talks between Washington and Baghdad. “There is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil,” he said in the interview published on Sunday before a planned trip to Washington, where he is slated to meet President Joe Biden on Monday for a fourth round of strategic talks.