Iraq calls on EU to remove from terrorist funding list

The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, yesterday renewed calls for the European Commission to remove the Gulf state from the list of high-risk third countries for money laundering and terrorist financing.

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, the minister met with Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.

The officials discussed the meetings of the Joint Commission for Human Rights and Democracy that were held days earlier.

According to the statement, the Iraqi minister confirmed his country’s commitment to the principle of “respecting the sovereignty of countries and not interfering in their internal affairs”, and expressed at the same time “his categorical refusal that Iraq becomes a battlefield for competing parties or a starting point for attacking any other country.”

The statement also pointed out that “the two sides discussed the issue of removing Iraq from the European Commission’s list of high-risk third countries for money laundering and terrorist financing.”

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