By Ingy Ashraf,
According to AFP, Iraq announced Sunday that they’ve restarted talks with the United States about the future of the anti-jihadist alliance, expressing hope that they would not be disrupted and that an agreement would be reached soon.
first round of discussions began on January 27, but were quickly halted after a drone attack killed three US military personnel at a base in Jordan the next day, prompting US reprisal strikes.
General Yehia Rasool, military spokesman for Iraq’s prime minister stated, “The supreme Iraqi military commission resumed on Sunday its meetings with international coalition forces in Baghdad.”
He continued, “As long as nothing disrupts the serenity of these talks, the meetings will take place regularly to achieve the commission’s works as soon as possible.”
Rasool stated that the talks were held to establish a “timeline” for a “progressive pullout” of coalition forces from Iraq, which would result in the mission’s conclusion.
Rasool said in a statement on Sunday that conversations are now focusing on assessing the threat presented by IS, which has been defeated in Iraq and Syria but still has sleeper cells capable of carrying out strikes.
The discussions included on “the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces,” he said.
Iraqi authorities intend to replace the multinational coalition with bilateral military cooperation with the force’s member states.
However, the process is likely to be very long. According to a coalition statement released on Thursday, the goal is now to “assess” the progress made in eliminating the jihadists and “discuss the future transition” of the coalition’s mission.
