ERBIL – The US troops are needed in Iraq in order to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in the country, as the insurgent group is still a threat to the region, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters in Davos, Switzerland, President Barzani noted that the Kurdistan Region’s stance is clear on the presence of the US and other foreign forces in Iraq and that they are here to help the country at the invitation of Baghdad.
“Therefore, their presence is important to combat the Daesh because Daesh is a big threat to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq,” the Kurdish president said, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.
“They [the foreign troops] should stay [in Iraq] until we are all convinced that the Daesh is defeated.”
Barzani further revealed that he discussed the relations between Erbil and Baghdad with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos.
The US president commended the sacrifices made by the Kurdistan Region and Peshmerga forces to fight terrorism and host IDPs and Syrian refugees in the past few years, he said.
Barzani’s remarks came while the Iraqi parliament has passed a resolution to oust the US and other foreign troops from the country.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people began protests in Baghdad on Friday against the US presence in Iraq after a call by powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.