Leader of the interlocutor Iraqi delegation: We intend to achieve 5 gains from Washington and prepare for an agreement on 3 sides regarding the American presence

Leader of the interlocutor Iraqi delegation: We intend to achieve 5 gains from Washington and prepare for an agreement on 3 sides regarding the American presence

2020/06/18 16:02

The head of the Iraqi delegation, the interviewer to Washington, Abdul Karim Hashem, stressed that the dialogue may pave the way to conclude a deal that gives Iraq gains in 5 important aspects, while he indicated that Baghdad stressed 3 demands regarding the US military presence formulated within the framework of an agreement.

Hashem said in an interview that I followed (Baghdad today) during his talk about the most important foundations that were followed in the first round of dialogue that “the American forces present in Iraq do not exercise their tasks with an American title, but rather they work within the framework of the international coalition whose membership includes 82 countries to fight ISIS.”

He revealed that “the Americans requested the redeployment of their forces in Iraq under the title of the international coalition, according to a mandate from the Iraqi government to help us fight ISIS with air strikes, training and rehabilitation.”

He added that “the dialogue was held at an American request and it was necessary because what happened at the beginning of the year (the assassination of the deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis with an American strike near Baghdad airport) was a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and the mandate stipulated in our government’s request, and we agreed that the dialogue would include an agreement representing Iraqi demands The first is not to establish any American military base, and second, to reduce the number of troops, and third, to remain only at the request.

He pointed out that “the closing statement of the first round of dialogue in which there was strong discussion and difficult negotiation to fix the smallest details, especially sensitive ones, and it is not true that he wrote an American and prepared before the round of dialogue, and I confirm that the version that came out is Iraqi and the final version was Iraqi.”

He pointed out that “the dialogue has positives and starts from participants, and we believe that it will pave the way for a service that serves Iraq in 5 aspects. The first is that Iraq seeks US help in its financial crisis, and also in a second point, it needs foreign loans and the United States pledged to help us in the borrowing file by pressing international institutions. And friendly countries to provide it. ”

He continued in a third aspect, “They also have the ability to invest in the energy and associated gas because much of it is lost by burning. Fourthly, it can provide support in the educational aspect. We can benefit a lot. Fifth, we have the Corona pandemic, and we need health and material support because the pandemic affected a lot of oil prices.” And the value of the money entered into Iraq. ”

On what Iraq pledged during the dialogue, Hashem stressed that “it is Iraq’s duty to protect the international coalition forces on its territory because it came at the invitation of the Iraqi government, and it is also our duty to protect all missions, including the Americans, and this is the duty of all governments in the world to protect diplomatic missions, and this is what we emphasized in the dialogue Also”.

In his first media appearance a few days ago, entitled The head of the Iraqi delegation interviewed for Washington, Hashem revealed, on Monday 15-5-2020, for the first time the identity of the members of the Iraqi delegation that conducted the dialogue with the American team in its first tour, indicating that the dialogue established the first agreement in 2008 As a basic rule.

Hashem Halal said, “The shortest way” , presented by the journalist Dr. Nabil Jassem on the Sharqiya TV screen, “There was a lot of confusion regarding the head of the Iraqi delegation, the interlocutor, and the rest of the team members who conducted the dialogue with the United States. Therefore, we did not go out to the media until after completing the first round. ”

He explained that “the statement of the first round was negotiated on all its points and its Arabic version is literally similar to English,” noting that “the United States conquered Iraq and asked him in April to discuss the redeployment of American forces.”

He added, “The head of the American delegation is the political representative of the American State, while the Iraqi delegation was formed on two principles: symmetry and competence.”

He pointed out that “the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, applied the principle of symmetry in my designation as head of the delegation because I am the political representative of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, and we have hired specialists in the security, military, cultural and health fields in the interlocutor.”

And between “the Iraqi team included diplomats from the ministry, and the American Department represented by the Ambassador of Iraq in Washington, and we used the assistance of the former chief negotiator of Iraq, Mohammed Al-Haj Hammoud, who negotiated with the United States in the agreement signed in 2008.”

“As for the American team, there was a representative from the office of the American Vice President, and his counterpart was an adviser to the prime minister,” he said.

He continued, “The representative of the Kurdistan region was the head of the region’s Presidency Office, and there are representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Defense, Oil, Electricity, Trade and Health in the dialogue and from the Central Bank of Iraq as well.”

With regard to the method of conducting the meeting between the head of the Iraqi negotiating delegation, “The meeting took place in the video of Converse, although it was scheduled to be face to face, but the problem of Corona pushed us to the first option.”

On Friday (12 June 2020), the governments of Iraq and the United States of America issued a statement on the strategic dialogue that was held last Thursday, through the closed video meetings circle between the two parties.

According to the statement received (Baghdad today), that “based on the strategic framework agreement of 2008 for the relationship of friendship and cooperation concluded between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America, strategic dialogue discussions were held through closed video meetings between the two parties represented by the senior representative of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul Karim Hashem Mustafa on behalf of the Republic of Iraq and US Undersecretary of State for Political Relations David Hill for the government of the United States of America, noting that “the agreement covered the areas of security, counter-terrorism, economics, energy, political issues, and cultural relations.”

The statement added, “The two countries reaffirmed their principles agreed upon in the Strategic Framework Agreement, in addition to the principles set forth in the exchange of diplomatic notes, and the correspondence of the Republic of Iraq to the UN Security Council numbered (S / 2014/440) dated June 25, 2014, Likewise, the numbered ones (S / 2014/691) dated September 20, 2014, respectively. The United States of America reaffirmed its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and the relevant decisions of the Iraqi legislative and executive authorities. ”

The statement continued: “With regard to economic and energy issues, the two countries have realized the enormous economic challenges facing Iraq in light of the two pandemic crises Covid-19, low oil prices, and the need for Iraq to adopt fundamental economic reforms.”

He pointed out that “the United States considered providing Iraq with economic advisers to work directly with the government of Iraq, in order to help enhance the level of international support for the reform efforts of the government of Iraq, including support provided by international financial institutions regarding serious plans to enact substantial economic reforms.”

And he added, “The two governments discussed potential investment projects in which international American companies are involved in the energy sector and other fields, provided that the working conditions are favorable.”

Regarding the political aspects, according to the statement, “the United States of America expressed its support for the Republic of Iraq, not only through close bilateral cooperation on the security and political levels, but also through its support for Iraq and its new government.”

The two countries reaffirmed their “importance of assisting Iraq in implementing its governmental and reform program in a manner that meets the aspirations of the Iraqi people, including continuing humanitarian efforts, restoring stability, rebuilding the country, and organizing free, fair and fair elections.”

The statement pointed out that “the United States, in cooperation with its international partners, affirmed its continued support for the preparations made by Iraq for the elections, and efforts to support the rule of law and human rights, and to return the displaced and facilitate their integration process, especially the minorities in Iraqi society that have been subjected to genocide by the ISIS terrorist organization “.

Regarding the security partnership, the two countries acknowledged that “in light of the distinguished progress on eliminating the threat of ISIS, the United States of America will continue in the coming months to reduce the number of forces present in Iraq and dialogue with the Iraqi government on the status of the remaining forces and where the focus of the two countries is towards developing a security relationship Naturalism based on common interests. ”

The statement indicated, “The United States of America confirmed that it does not seek to establish permanent bases or a permanent military presence in Iraq, as agreed previously in the 2008 Strategic Framework Agreement, which states that security cooperation takes place on the basis of mutual agreements.”

He cautioned that “the government of Iraq has committed to protecting the military forces of the international coalition, and the Iraqi facilities hosting them in line with international law and relevant arrangements regarding the presence of those forces and in the form that will be agreed upon between the two countries.”

On the cultural level, the statement explained, “The two governments discussed plans to return the important political archive to the government of Iraq, and efforts to develop the capacities of Iraqi universities. The two parties also discussed plans to return artifacts and the Baath party archive to Iraq.”

He continued, “The two parties reaffirmed their importance on the strategic relationship and their intention to take appropriate steps that work to promote the interests of both countries and to achieve security, stability and prosperity in the region.”

According to the statement, “The United States government welcomed the opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen its partnership with Iraq as the Iraqi prime minister begins to take over his government duties.”

The statement concluded, “The two governments look forward to in-depth discussions on the aforementioned issues at the meeting of the High Coordination Committee for Strategic Dialogue in Washington, DC, to be held in July.”

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