Iraqi Popular Forces demand US troops to leave Iraq

SANAA, March 9 (YPA) – Iraq’s popular resistance forces condemned US sanctions on Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and called for measures to oust the US troops from the country.

The decision has drawn angry reactions from Iraqis.

On Thursday, popular anti-terror groups Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq issued statements, calling for resistance against US presence in the region.

Kata’ib Hezbollah’s statement said the ban was a response to numerous US defeats in the region.

It added that Washington is seeking to weaken the Iraqi resistance against the occupation as it digs its heels in Iraq.

Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq highlighted what it described Washington’s hypocrisy in sanctioning the anti-terror group while allying itself with Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“We believe the American criteria for terrorism are not only usually wrong but are actually quite the opposite,” it noted.

On Thursday, political council chief of Iraq’s Sadrist movement Nessar al-Rabi’ee stressed the need for a law to be adopted in parliament against the presence of foreign forces.

Al-Rabi’ee explained that such a law would safeguard Iraq from “terrorist forces” seeking to enter the country under “new labels”.

Lawmaker Jamal al-Fakhir of the Sairoon bloc said the group was engaged in discussions with other Iraqi factions seeking consensus on a bill against the US military presence.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s office said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had contacted the Iraqi premier by phone to discuss the matter.

E.M