Senior officials from Baghdad were in Washington Thursday for preliminary talks on the US military presence in Iraq, ahead of an upcoming meeting between leaders of the two countries, the Pentagon said in a statement.

US President Joe Biden is set to host Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi at the White House on Monday, and Kadhemi is expected to push for a concrete timetable of foreign troop withdrawal.

On Thursday Mara Karlin, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, hosted Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji and a military delegation, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

Both sides "reaffirmed the importance of the US-Iraq bilateral security relationship" as well as "the long-term US-Iraq security cooperation partnership and areas for cooperation beyond counterterrorism."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin joined the group to reaffirm his support for "the US-Iraq strategic partnership."

Talks are set to resume on Friday.

Some 3,500 foreign troops are in Iraqi territory, including 2,500 Americans, who have been posted to help fight the Islamic State group since 2014.

The implementation of their withdrawal could take years.

Iraq, long an arena for bitter rivalry between the United States and Iran despite their shared enmity towards the IS, has seen growing numbers of rocket and drone attacks on US targets in recent months.

Last week Iraq's leader met with visiting US envoy Brett McGurk in Baghdad to discuss foreign troop withdrawal, his office in statement.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Iraqis protest against unpunished killings of activists
Baghdad (AFP) July 18, 2021
Hundreds of Iraqis protested on Sunday in central Baghdad to demand that authorities hold accountable the killers of dozens of activists associated with a long-running protest movement. Assassinations, attempted murders and abductions have targeted more than 70 activists since a pro-democracy protest movement erupted against government corruption and incompetence in 2019. "We're here to say that we want to end impunity in Iraq," Hussein Al-Faili, an 18-year old student, told AFP from Firdous Sq ... read more