Iraq and US Need to Return to Dialogue Over Future of Coalition Force, Says Iraq FM 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
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Iraq and US Need to Return to Dialogue Over Future of Coalition Force, Says Iraq FM 

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein addresses journalists during a joint news conference with his Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (AP)

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, stressed the need to return to the negotiating table over the future of the US-led international military coalition in Iraq, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Talks between the two countries began in January, but less than 24 hours later three US service members were killed in an attack near the Syrian-Jordanian border that the United States said was carried out by Iran-backed militant groups in Syria and Iraq. The talks have since paused then.

The US military launched airstrikes on Friday in both Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in retaliation for the attack in Jordan.

Hussein stressed to Blinken the Iraqi government's rejection of such attacks saying that "Iraq is not an arena for settling scores between rival countries."

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to prevent a resurgence of ISIS, which in 2014 seized large parts of Iraq and Syria before being defeated. Hundreds of troops from mostly European countries are also part of the coalition.

Iraq's government says ISIS is defeated and the coalition's job is over, however, a US withdrawal would likely increase concern in Washington about the influence of arch foe Iran over Iraq's ruling elite.

Iraq is keen to explore establishing bilateral relations with coalition members, including military cooperation in training and equipment.

Hussein formally demanded the US Treasury Department reconsider the sanctions it had imposed on several Iraqi banks, asking whether those sanctions were put in place over compliance issues or "other political reasons."

In July, Washington barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions as part of a wider crackdown on the illicit use of dollars.



Tunisians Protest Against President as Jailed Politicians Begin Hunger Strike

Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
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Tunisians Protest Against President as Jailed Politicians Begin Hunger Strike

Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)

Hundreds of Tunisians staged two protest rallies on Wednesday against what they say is the authoritarian rule of President Kais Saied and demanded the release of political prisoners, while six detained opposition figures held a hunger strike.

Saied seized extra powers in 2021 when he shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary. The opposition described his move as a coup, Reuters reported.

Supporters of the opposition Free Constitutional Party gathered in the capital Tunis to demand the release of their detained leader Abir Moussi. They chanted slogans such as "Saied, dictator, your turn has come," and "Free Abir".

"What is happening is true tyranny, no freedom for the opposition, no freedom for the media. Any word can send you to prison," one protester, Hayat Ayari, told Reuters.

Hundreds of supporters of another opposition party, the Salvation Front, staged a separate rally, also in Tunis, to demand the release of detained politicians, activists and journalists.

Six prominent opposition figures detained on conspiracy charges have begun a hunger strike in prison to protest against their impending trial, their lawyers said on Wednesday.

Abdelhamid Jelassi, Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Khiyam Turki, Ridha Belhaj, Issam Chebbi and Ghazi Chaouachi - all detained in 2023 during a crackdown on the opposition - have refused to participate in what they say is an "unfair trial".

Saied said in 2023 that the detainees were "traitors and terrorists" and that the judges who acquitted them were their accomplices.

The detainees have denied any wrongdoing and have said they were preparing an initiative aimed at uniting Tunisia's fragmented opposition.

Most leaders of political parties are now in prison including two of Saied's most prominent opponents, Moussi and Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahda party.

The government says there is democracy in Tunisia and Saied says he will not be a dictator, but that what he calls a corrupt elite must be held accountable.