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Pompeo reaffirms US commitment to Iraq in phone call with PM Allawi
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday urged Iraq’s designated prime minister to protect US troops and meet grievances of a months-long protest movement ahead of a parliamentary confidence vote.
In the first substantive US comment on Mohammad Allawi since he was named on February 1 as a consensus candidate, Pompeo told Allawi by telephone that the United States backed a “strong, sovereign and prosperous” Iraq.
Pompeo “stressed Iraq’s obligation to protect the US and coalition diplomats, forces and facilities,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1231718814385135620
Pompeo spoke to Allawi about “the urgency with which Iraq’s next government must put an end to the killing of protesters, seek justice for those killed and wounded, and address their legitimate grievances,” she said.
Allawi has called a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday ahead of a deadline, after earlier skepticism that he could form and win approval for a government.
source: AFP
