Iraq confirms that it has no need for any foreign fighting force

Iraqi National Security Adviser, Qassem al-Araji, announced on Saturday that the US has been assured that "Iraq does not need any foreign combat force" on its soil.

He said in a press statement issued by his office that the 31st of December "will have a special flavor," without providing further clarifications.

The US and Iraqi delegations, both respectively headed by the US Defense Minister and al-Araji, met in Washington to discuss the military US presence in Iraq.

During the recent meeting of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Washington on Friday, Blinken said that he will discuss with the Iraqi delegation "the fight against ISIS so that we can establish security and stability, which is an indication of the close relationship with Iraq."

For his part, the Secretary-General of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Qais al-Khazali, said that the Iraqi Foreign Minister's statement about the need for US forces was "unfortunate," noting that "the statement is rejected and does not reflect the reality of the capabilities that the Iraqi forces have reached."

Khazali also pointed out that "the American presence has nothing to do with the interests of Iraq, but rather the interests of the Israeli entity."

On Friday, the Coordinating Committee of the Iraqi resistance factions stressed: "the conditions of the resistance not to allow the presence of any foreign soldier on Iraqi soil."

The coordination pointed out that "the American trainers and the international coalition forces have proven to be a catastrophic failure in Iraq," adding that "the withdrawal of the occupying forces must be complete from all Iraqi lands."

The Wall Street Journal previously quoted the US and Iraqi officials as saying that both administrations intend to issue a statement calling on US forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year while reiterating that US military presence is still required afterward to help Iraqi forces in confronting "ISIS".