Iraqi Prime Minister Asks US to Start Talks on Troop Withdrawal

Adel Abdul Mahdi said he had spoken to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to request that a delegation be sent to prepare for the pulling out of forces.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq said on Friday that he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to send a delegation from the United States to prepare for the withdrawal of American troops from his country.

Amid outrage in Iraq about the American drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a top Iranian commander, in Baghdad last week, Iraqi lawmakers voted on Sunday to expel United States forces.

In a Thursday evening phone call, which Mr. Abdul Mahdi’s office said Mr. Pompeo had initiated, the Iraqi prime minister said he had objected to dual violations of his country’s sovereignty — referring to both the American attack and the retaliatory missile strikes by Iran on bases in Iraq.

“Iraq is keen on keeping the best of relations with its neighbors and its friends in the international community,” the prime minister’s office said in the statement.

Iraq’s priority is to “fight terrorism,” according to the statement, including violence from the Islamic State.

United States forces have been stationed in Iraq, and to a lesser degree in Syria, as part of that operation. There are currently around 5,200 American troops in Iraq.

In his statement on Friday, the Iraqi prime minister said that American forces entering the country and drones flying over Iraq did so “without permission from the Iraqi government.”