The decision of the Iraqi parliament on the withdrawal of foreign troops from the territory of the country does not mean that the military of the United States and other countries will leave Iraqi territory in the coming days, since their location is regulated by a special law, Samir Gattas, deputy of the Egyptian parliament and head of the Middle East Strategic Research Forum, told the reporters in a interview.
This is reported by RIA Novosti.
This, in particular, is an agreement on friendship and cooperation between Iraq and the USA, which takes the form of a law and can only be repealed by the adoption of another law. At the same time, the United States will have a year to withdraw its military after receiving written notification from the Iraqi side of the denunciation of the bilateral agreement.
On Sunday, against the backdrop of the killing of the influential Iranian leader Kassem Suleymani and the Shiite Iraqi commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis by Americans in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Iraqi parliament voted by a majority vote for a package of decisions that include, in particular: withdrawing a request to assist the international coalition in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group* , a requirement for the government to cease all foreign military presence on Iraqi territory.
“The entry of forces of the international coalition in Iraq was based on the request of the Iraqi government in the framework of the law adopted by the Parliament (Law No. 52 of 2008 – ed.) in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, this law can only be repealed by another law. And that took place today, it was a vote with a fundamental demand for the withdrawal of foreign forces, which means the forces of the international coalition led by the United States”, – Gattas said.
He explained that therefore, including at the meeting on Sunday, some factions were absent, in particular, Sunni and Kurdish ones.
“They understand that this is only a demand for the withdrawal of troops, while there is no bill that would mean the seriousness of intentions to act in this direction”, – the expert emphasized.
In his opinion, the meeting was the result of pressure from Iran and, above all, is a political step, a response to the assassination of Kassem Suleimani.
“We must take into account the fact that, in accordance with the current agreement, the withdrawal of foreign troops should be carried out within a year after the parliament passes the new law. The United States must withdraw manpower and equipment within a year”, – Gattas said.
At the same time, he believes that it will be difficult for the Iraqi government to interact with the Iraqi armed forces inside the country without foreign assistance, even though they were formally annexed to the Iraqi armed forces.
“These armed Shiite militias continue to operate in many ways not under the control of the official security forces, despite the fact that a decision was made earlier on their inclusion in the Iraqi security forces”, – the agency’s interlocutor concluded.
The current agreement on friendship and cooperation between Iraq and the USA from 2008 stipulates the temporary presence of the US military at the request of the Iraqi side and with full respect for Iraqi sovereignty. The agreement also states that the United States cannot use the Iraqi territory, air and sea space to attack third countries. In addition, the United States should not have permanent bases and strive to have a permanent military presence in Iraq. In addition to cooperation in the field of security, the same agreement provides for interaction in the economic and cultural spheres.
As another Egyptian expert in international law explained the reporters, in Iraq, as in many other countries of the world, often important bilateral and multilateral agreements take the form of a law after passing the appropriate procedure in the Parliament. Unlike a simple decision, the adoption or repeal of the law implies that the government must submit a draft to the Parliament, which must then go through three readings and final approval.
*-Terrorist organization banned in Russia