EU Seeks to Remove Iraq from High-Risk Countries List

On Tuesday, European Union (EU) Ambassador to Iraq Martin Huth confirmed that there are great efforts being made by the EU and its members to remove Iraq from the list of high-risk countries.

In a press statement to Jordanian Newspaper 'Al Ra'i', the EU ambassador said that foreign powers are using Iraq as a proxy battlefield.

Moreover, Huth warned against the risk of Iraq becoming a failed state, stressing that this failure would carry disastrous repercussions for the entire region.

Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister (PM) Mustafa al-Kadhimi revealed that more than half of the US Troops will withdraw from the country in the coming days, according to Russia Today (RT).

In televised statements, al-Kadhimi stressed that Iraq “will no longer be an arena for regional or international conflicts.”

“We will not allow Iraqi territories to be exploited for settling scores between countries,” Iraqi PM added.

Moreover, al-Kadhimi said that the U.S. troops’ withdrawal came due to the ongoing strategic dialogue between Iraq and the US that yield in the withdrawal of batches of U.S. troops during the past months.

“The withdrawal of more than half of them will complete in the coming few days,” he continued. “Only hundreds of them will remain, for cooperation in the fields of training, rehabilitation, armament, and technical support. ”

Iraqi PM explained that this move comes in the light of Iraqi forces’ readiness to protect the land of Iraq and preserve the dignity of its people.