Senior Mufti: Iraqi Shias, Sunnis Ready to Fight for Expelling U.S.

Date: 09 August 2020 - 21:56

News ID: ۸۱۵۳۱

BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – A senior Iraqi Sunni mufti says an overwhelming majority in his country’s both Shia and Sunni population is prepared to fight to force the U.S. pull out its troops from the country.
"8 out of 10 Shias are ready for resistance and prepared for expelling the American forces, and many sides, including (prominent Shia leader) Seyed Muqtada Sadr support our resistance,” Sheikh Mahdi al-Samida’ei was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website on Sunday.
He added that the Sunnis are also more prepared, compared to 2003, when the U.S. attacked Iraq, to fight against the U.S. troops’ presence, noting that they can also supply weapons from different countries now.
The Iraqi parliament passed and approved a plan to expel foreign troops from its soil on January 6, 2019, two days after the assassination of the Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Deputy Chairman of al-Hashd al-Shaabi Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and their companions in a U.S. military terrorist attack near Baghdad airport.
Senior lawmakers in Iraq have reiterated time and again that withdrawal of foreign troops from the country is necessary based on the law approved by the parliament.
"The approval to expel the foreign forces has been ratified and the former government was committed to it and it has turned into an imperative law,” Ahmad al-Assadi, the chairman of al-Sanad al-Watani faction in the parliament, was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Ahd news website as saying in June.
No talks will be held to prolong deployment of foreign forces in Iraq, he underlined.