Iraqi PM: ‘We do not want more foreign troops’

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said yesterday that his country does not need more foreign troops.

“We do not want more non-Iraqi forces on the ground,” Italy’s state television reported Al-Abadi saying during a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi.

“The international coalition helps us to train our forces in order to combat terrorism. Later this year we would like to end the presence of the Daesh in Iraq,” he explained.

“In Ramadi, western Iraq, we waged a blow against Daesh, and we hope that we can repeat it in the city of Mosul in the north, too.”

Over 280 Italian army officers are present in Iraq to train local police forces in the cities of Baghdad and Erbil.

Al-Abadi urged Italy to accelerate the maintenance of the Mosul Dam saying: “We need to speed the arrival of the Italian Trevi company and ensure the safety of workers and technicians who will work on the maintenance of the dam. This is a very important issue for us, since the dam is the source of water for all Iraqis.”

Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti announced last Wednesday that 450 Italian military officers are going to provide protection for maintenance work at the dam.

Trevi, an Italian company, will oversee the maintenance of Mosul Dam, 35 kilometres north of Mosul, at a cost of $2 billion.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said: “Mosul Dam was briefly under the Islamic State’s control which hampered carrying out maintenance work,” using another name for Daesh.

Renzi said: “Iraq was the cradle of human civilisation and has a crucial role to play in the stability of the entire Middle East.”

Earlier, Al-Abadi met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.