US, France Continue to Support Iraq's Efforts in Combating Terrorism

French President Emmanuel Macron addressing French ambassadors in Paris (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron addressing French ambassadors in Paris (AFP)
TT
20

US, France Continue to Support Iraq's Efforts in Combating Terrorism

French President Emmanuel Macron addressing French ambassadors in Paris (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron addressing French ambassadors in Paris (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron held a telephone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani during which Macron reaffirmed France's support to Iraq in its war against terrorism, the prime minister's media office said on Wednesday.

Macron telephoned Sudani after a member of the French Special Forces was killed early this week during a clash with ISIS terrorists in the Saladin Governorate, north of Iraq.

He affirmed France's commitment to continue combating ISIS, asserting that Paris will continue to work within the framework of the international coalition alongside the Iraqi government, the Iraqi Kurdistan government, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Sudani extended his condolences to Macron over the loss during the call, reiterating the importance of cooperation with the international coalition to eliminate the terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, Iraqi political experts wondered about the contradicting statements of top officials who emphasized that there was no need for foreign combat forces in Iraq.

They said that the presence of French and Spanish soldiers within the international coalition in Iraq seemed as if there was something Baghdad was not declaring about foreign troops.

Political observers noted that the parties rejecting the US presence in Iraq, namely armed factions loyal to Iran, did not announce a new position regarding the presence of foreign troops, even after the death of the French soldier.

They noted a remarkable transformation in the new relationship between Baghdad and Washington after the formation of Sudani’s government.

In January 2020, representatives of the Coordination Framework voted in parliament to remove the US forces from the country. However, this was not brought up again, which granted Sudani’s government an opportunity to work freely and arrange the relationship with the international coalition or the US.

Baghdad and Washington had signed in 2008 the Strategic Framework Agreement which represents the strong military to military relationship between the United States and Iraq.

Political science Professor at al-Mustansiriya University, Issam Faili, believes the recent US military movements are the most dangerous as they are the largest in Iraq since their withdrawal in 2010.

Faili told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US administration wants to redeploy its forces in Iraq for two main reasons: limiting the Iranian influence that extends from Baghdad through Damascus to Lebanon and the axis of the US-Russian conflict in the region.

He stressed that the United States would conduct maneuvers inside Iraq on the outskirts of Mosul and Kurdistan, which means that it will return with greater power this time because it wants to continue curbing Iranian influences, which will impact the internal situation in Syria.

- The US Ambassador remarks

The US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, said on X social media platform, previously known as Twitter, that “it was great to meet the Minister of Defense again after the Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue that convened earlier this month in Washington.”

Romanowski said the meeting strengthened the US-Iraqi partnership: "We are creating solutions to a better future for all Iraqis."

She did not disclose the nature of the promised solutions.

Most Iraqi officials who meet the Ambassador do not issue statements expressing their vision of the future relationship with Washington, and thus, Romanowski's remarks remain the only source for news agencies regarding her almost daily meetings with senior Iraqi officials.



Sudanese Ex-Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We’re in Contact with Trump Administration on Ways to End the War

Leading member of Sudan’s Sumoud alliance and former Minister Khalid Omer Yousif. (Khalid Omer Yousif on X)
Leading member of Sudan’s Sumoud alliance and former Minister Khalid Omer Yousif. (Khalid Omer Yousif on X)
TT
20

Sudanese Ex-Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We’re in Contact with Trump Administration on Ways to End the War

Leading member of Sudan’s Sumoud alliance and former Minister Khalid Omer Yousif. (Khalid Omer Yousif on X)
Leading member of Sudan’s Sumoud alliance and former Minister Khalid Omer Yousif. (Khalid Omer Yousif on X)

Leading member of Sudan’s Sumoud alliance Khalid Omer Yousif revealed that the coalition is in contact with the Donald Trump administration to end the two-year war in Sudan.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Yousif, a former minister of cabinet affairs in ex-Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s government, praised British and European countries that will hold in London on Tuesday a conference to discuss means to end the war in Sudan.

The conference, called for by Britain, Germany and France, will be attended by the foreign ministers of 20 countries and also tackle efforts to help the millions of Sudanese people who have been displaced by the conflict.

The British organizers have excluded the warring parties from attending the meeting, but a delegation from Sumoud, the country’s largest coalition of civilian parties and forces, has been invited. Sumoud is led by Hamdok, who has been on a visit to Britain for a few days now.

The London conference is a “positive step” in uniting international efforts towards Sudan given that its conflict - despite its enormity - has been overshadowed by the wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Ukraine, Yousif remarked.

He confirmed that contacts are ongoing between Sumoud and the warring parties: army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

Moreover, Yousif said that the United Nations has estimated that Sudan needs USD6 billion to confront its humanitarian needs in 2025, but so far only 4 percent of that amount has been collected.

He stated that Sumoud has made several proposals aimed at ending the war, including holding a meeting between the UN Security Council and African Union Peace and Security Council, holding another donor conference, and launching African-sponsored political dialogue.

Hamdok has sent these proposals to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Yousif revealed.

International division

Yousif lamented that the international community appears divided over how to approach Sudan, stressing however that the solution should come from the Sudanese people themselves.

“The responsibility lies primarily with them,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He acknowledged, however, that the regional and international division “surrounding us is complicating the crisis and making it harder for the Sudanese to reach solutions.”

“So, we have communicated with the international community to make solutions easier for us, and not to obstruct them. This is at the heart of our communication with the international community,” he explained.

Moreover, he warned that the “war no longer threatens Sudan alone. But it has become a danger to the security of the region, especially with the presence of terrorist groups in some neighboring countries.”

The war has effectively started to impact the security and stability of neighboring countries, and similar conflicts to the ones in Sudan have started to erupt there, he remarked.

Sudan is connected to several strategic regions – the Sahel, Sahara, Red Sea and North Africa – so its war not only threatens the Sudanese, but the region and so it is in the interest of the international community to stop it, Yousif urged.

US role under Trump

On the role the Trump administration can play in resolving the war, the former minister said: “We hope the administration can develop a clear vision over how to help the Sudanese end the conflict.”

He hoped that as the US exerts efforts in ending conflicts across the globe, that it would apply these same efforts in his country.

“Successive administrations have made positive statements towards the Sudanese people and they have worked on reaching negotiated solutions” between them, he noted.

Hope despite the destruction

Yousif said he remains hopeful that the war can be stopped despite the massive losses in life and destruction in the country.

“We hope the Sudanese people will shun violence and turn to solutions to their differences through dialogue and peaceful means,” he stressed.

He revealed that he derives his hope from the growing awareness among the people that peaceful means are the way forward in ending the unrest.

He acknowledged, however, that the war has caused deep divisions among the people and is threatening the fragmentation of Sudan.

These divisions are “the greatest threat facing the unity of the country,” he went on to say.

Ending the fighting and engaging in serious dialogue between the Sudanese parties is the only way to maintain the country’s unity and sovereignty, he added.