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Baghdad Expresses Keenness on Cooperating With NATO

An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
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Baghdad Expresses Keenness on Cooperating With NATO

An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
An Iraqi soldier stands guard in front US military air carrier on 26 March 2020 [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]

Iraq has expressed keenness on cooperating with the international community, namely with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The organization announced it would dramatically scale up its mission in Iraq from 500 personnel to 4,000.

Iraq's National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji said: "Iraq is keen to cooperate with the international community. Iraqi forces have great experiences gained through combat," noting that "exchanging experiences is crucial to confront terrorism and extremism."

This came during a meeting between Araji and the commander of the NATO mission in Iraq, Pierre Olsen.

Araji said that his country is not part of any regional problem, but rather part of the solution.

Iraq will work to benefit from the experiences of NATO because ISIS is still a threat so far, he explained.

For his part, Olsen said: “The NATO mission in Iraq continues at the request of the Iraqi leadership, and the expansion of the staff may be at the request of this country.”

Riad Al-Masoudi, a deputy in the Iraqi parliament for the "Sairoun" coalition, stated that Washington has become aware of the Iraqi pressures towards the US withdrawal of forces from Iraq. Therefore, it is attempting to return to the country through NATO.

Fatah coalition spokesman Abbas al-Zamili commented saying that no foreign force can enter the country without a prior agreement with the Iraqi government, which gets should get the parliament’s approval first.

Iraq is a sovereign country that doesn’t need a foreign presence on its territories, he stressed.

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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”