Iraq’s Abadi:

Coalition partners not doing enough to counter ISIL

Rasa - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi accused partners of the US-led international al coalition of not doing enough to counter the Takfiri group, ISIL.

News ID: 2644

Date: 02 June 2015 - 17:27

RNA - Talking to reporters in Paris, hours before a coalition meeting to tackl ISIL threat, Abadi called ISIL’s advance a “failure for the whole world community.”Iraq Prime Minister Haider Abadi.

He said Iraq "needs all the support of the world" to counter the Takfiris’ advance, but "we are not getting much. I think this is a failure on the part of the world... There is a lot of talk of support for Iraq, there is very little on the ground."

Abadi also urged the international community to help Iraq purchase weapons to fight the terrorists, saying the country had received "almost none. We are relying on ourselves."

"Because of our fiscal problems, we were not able to get into new contracts for arms supply. Most contracts were done in the previous government with the Russians," he said.

"The Russians are under sanctions now by the US, so we are finding it very difficult to pay for these arms to get them. The money is there sitting in the bank, but we cannot get them."

Abadi said sanctions also ruled out buying arms from neighboring Iran.

"We are not asking for arms, but please let us purchase arms easily."

Meanwhile, he rejected suggestions that Iraq was not doing enough politically, saying that he was confident that an appeal to Sunni tribes to fight ISIL was "on track".

"To be honest, we need a lot of political work on the part of the coalition countries. We need an explanation why there are so many terrorists from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Egypt ... European countries. If it is due to the political situation in Iraq, why are Americans, French and German (fighters) in Iraq?" he said.

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