BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – An Iraqi legislator says it would be legitimate for the country’s anti-terror resistance groups, which are part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, to force U.S.-led military forces to leave in case the occupation forces prolong their presence in the Arab country.
“Americans must leave Iraqi territories. They have no other option. There is no reason for American troops at all to remain in Iraq,” Ali al-Fatlawi, a member of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, told Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Ahad news agency on Monday.
“Iraq will utilize all legal and diplomatic means to prevent a prolonged U.S. military presence,” he underlined.
Fatlawi noted, “If Americans do not leave Iraq after the deadline and continue their deployment, it will then be legitimate and legal for resistance forces to confront their occupation.”
The remarks come a day after the spokesman for the political bureau of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq lambasted a prolonged presence of U.S.-led troops in Iraq, saying that resistance fighters will confront all those seeking to justify an overstay.
Mahmoud al-Rubaie told the Arabic-language al-Maalomah news agency that weapons at the hands of Iraqi resistance fighters are the main guarantor and executive assurance for the implementation of the Iraqi nation’s demand and the parliamentary bill on withdrawal of foreign troops.
“All military forces affiliated with American occupiers must, therefore, leave Iraq,” he said.
“Any individual or faction that seeks to justify the continued presence of foreign forces will face an armed struggle staged by resistance combatants. The national Iraqi will and resistance groups will eventually drive foreign troops out of Iraq,” Rubaie stressed.
There are about 2,500 U.S. troops and another 1,000 coalition troopers currently based in Iraq. It is unclear how many will remain in the next phase of deployment in Iraq.
Anti-U.S. sentiment has been growing in Iraq. Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill that requires the government to end the presence of all foreign military forces led by the U.S.