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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani discussed the international presence in his country in a February 7, 2024 interview with Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia). Al-Sudani said that "a stable country like Iraq" has no need for it. He said that the Iraqi government will deal with the international presence through dialogue and not through attacks. Al-Sudani said that the war in Gaza is a "mark of shame" on the international community and its institutions and that these "crimes" will encourage extremism and violence and will serve to create a "new ISIS" all over the world.
Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani: "The presence [of the international coalition in Iraq] will be dealt with by the government, and not by [anti-American] attacks. It will be done through dialogue. We established the foundations for this dialogue in August 2023, before the events of October 7, when we sent a delegation led by the Minister of Defense to Washington, and agreed to start preparing for the international coalition.
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"2024 is fundamentally different from 2014. In 2014, the Iraqi government asked the international coalition to support its efforts in the war against ISIS. ISIS is finished and it will not return. Our security is stable, thank God. All that remains [from ISIS] are a few small groups, hiding on caves, deserts, and mountains, and they are on the run from our security agencies. So there is not more justification [for the international coalition]. In addition, we do not want the presence of the international coalition to become a target for [groups] with internal or external agendas, which will push Iraq into the regional conflicts.
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"In addition, we do not want this presence to cause the rival to exchange ‘messages’ on Iraqi soil. Iraq is too great to serve as a battleground for settling scores.
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"We do not need a coalition of 86 countries, of which, 25 countries have small forces on the ground. This situation is not appropriate for a stable country like Iraq, which strives for development, construction, and regional and global economic projects. Who needs this [international] presence?
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"All that is left [of the international coalitions] are the advisors. Today, we go so far as to say: ‘Who needs those advisors anymore?’
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"The truth is that this war [in Gaza] is a mark of shame on the international community and its institutions. It constitutes an appalling failure of the international system. I do not know how the West will speak in the future about the values and ideals of which it has been talking to the point of giving us a headache – human rights, international law, agreements, norms…
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"These attacks, this crime, this genocide will serve as a major element in encouraging extremism and violence, and for the emergence of a new ISIS, is all the countries in the world."
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