BAGHDAD 6 Jan (ANA) - Iraq's parliament has passed a resolution calling on the government to expel foreign troops from the country as Iran-US tensions escalate following the killing of a top Iranian military commander and Iraqi armed group leader in a US strike in Baghdad.

 

In an extraordinary parliamentary session on Sunday, parliament called on the government to end all foreign troop presence in Iraq and to cancel its request for assistance from the US-led coalition which had been working with Baghdad to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

 

"The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory," the resolution read.

 

"The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason."

 

Parliament resolutions, unlike laws, are non-binding and the move would require new legislation to cancel the existing agreement.

 

Ahead of the vote, chants of "No, no, America…long live Iraq", rang out inside the hall, before Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also called on parliament to end foreign troop presence.

 

"Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically," said Abdul Mahdi in an address to parliament ahead of the vote.

 

The embattled prime minister stepped down in November amid months-long mass anti-government protests but remains in a caretaker position.

 

"Iraq has two options", he said, adding that the country can either immediately end the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi sol or reconsider a draft resolution that ties US presence to training Iraqi security forces in the fight against ISIL.

 

Abdul Mahdi said that the decline of ISIL, which Baghdad declared victory over in December 2017, put an end to the main reason for the presence of US forces in the country. 

 

"It is in the interests of both Iraq and US to end foreign troop presence in country," he said.

 

Around 5,000 US troops remain in Iraq, most of them in an advisory capacity. US troops fought alongside Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces or PMF) during 2014 - 2017 against Islamic State group.

 

Baghdad-based analyst Tareq Harb told Al Jazeera that Abdul Mahdi's call to expel US troops in Iraq was in anticipation of a reaction from the mostly pro-Iran groups which demand such a move.

 

"Abdul Mahdi had no option but to take a strong stance against the presence of US troops in Iraq," Harb told Al Jazeera. "He's been shrewd in taking this position and leaving the decision to parliament."(ANA)

FA/ANA/6 January 2020-------