Iraq’s PM, US Delegation Discuss American Troops Withdrawal Mechanism

Iraq’s Prime Minister (PM) Mustafa Al-Kadhimi met today, Thursday, with Brett H. McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.

The Iraqi Premier discussed with the US envoy mechanisms of withdrawal of the US combatant forces from Iraq.

The Iraqi government issued a statement that revealed that Al-Kadhimi and Brett H. McGurk touched on coordination and joint cooperation between Iraq and the United States of America (USA) in various fields and preparations for holding the next round of the strategic dialog.

They also discussed advancing to a new stage of strategic cooperation that upgrades the relation between the two countries and bolsters the security and sovereignty of Iraq.

Al-Kadhimi and his American guest discussed how Iraq and the USA could widen their cooperation in the fields of economy, culture, trade, and health to confront the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

On July 2, Hundreds of Iraqis gathered in Bagdad, the capital city of Iraq, to protest energy outages and cut off supplies of freshwater over the last few days despite the freak heat wave that hit the country.

Meteorologists said that temperature degrees in Iraq exceeded 50 Celsius in some parts of Iraq.

Muslims performed Friday prayer under umbrellas, but rivulets of sweat ran down their faces in that sweltering weather. They attended the prayers, and then marched in the streets of the capital against blackouts.

Haydar Hussein, an Iraqi worker who took part in protests today, said that the situation in the country gets worse, adding that electricity cuts off for at least ten hours a day.

Others complained that the national grid of electricity broke down before dawn in one of the worst cases this year.

But some lines resumed working at noon especially in Bagdad, where inhabitants get better supplies compared to what others get in the poorer parts in the middle and south of the country.

The Iraqis blame their government which imports energy from neighboring Iran. They complain that the authorities failed to develop an Iraqi infrastructure to serve the population.

Houses in Iraq use air conditioning for longer hours during the summer months because the rickety grid suffers from failures many times a day.

The occupation of Iraq by the US and other western nations’ forces has hurt the country badly for over 18 years.