Iraqi parliament’s resolution on US troops withdrawal won’t be shelved: Lawmaker

An Iraqi lawmaker has called on the Baghdad government to accelerate the implementation of a resolution adopted by parliament concerning the withdrawal of US forces from the Arab country, stressing the decision is irrevocable.

“The government must abide by the decision of the Council of Representatives during rounds of negotiation with the United States of America. Most political blocs will not allow parliament to either delay or withdraw the bill,” Fadel al-Fatlawi, a member of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, told Arabic-language al-Maalomah news agency in an exclusive interview on Monday.

He added, “The decision of the Council of Representatives regarding removal of American forces is irreversible, and the government is obligated to implement it.”

Fatlawi said the Iraqi parliament will soon host Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to discuss the exit of US troops, Turkish incursions as well as the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The presence of US troops in Iraq has been a thorny issue in relations between the two countries, which have been strained in recent months.

On July 13, Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah Brigades, whose group is a part of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units — more commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi — reiterated the resistance group’s readiness to end the US military presence in Iraq.

Askari stressed that Americans must know that Iraq’s decision on the withdrawal of US troops is “irreversible” and that no one can circumvent the will of the Iraqi people.

“The resistance must continue with popular, political, security, and media pressure, with full readiness for wide military action until those killers yield to the people’s will,” Askari wrote in a post published on his Twitter page back then.

Anti-US sentiment has been running high in Iraq following the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the PMU, and their companions in a US assassination drone airstrike authorized by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill two days after the attack, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country.

The US responded to the move by threatening crippling sanctions against the Arab country.