Iraqi Expert:

US to Replace Embassy Workers with Intelligence Officers

A senior Iraqi expert said the US has initiated action to replace a majority of its embassy workers and diplomats in Baghdad with intelligence officers after increasing reports on the American mission in the Iraqi capital said Israeli and American spies are operating with embassy's help.

News ID: 446021

Date: 17 July 2019 - 18:38

RNA - Following recent reports on the mission's spying on the Iraqi military forces, the Arabic-language al-Ma'aloumeh news website quoted Abbas al-Ardawi as saying that Washington intends to pull out a number of its diplomats from the embassy in Baghdad and replace them with intelligence agents.

He added that the US state department is concerned about leak of more intel on ties between the embassy workers and its mercenaries in Iraq.

The US government has refrained from providing the Iraqi government with any information about the US embassy workers in Iraq and their type of activities after occupation of the country.

On Saturday, a senior Iraqi lawmaker warned of the US embassy's suspicious activities in the country, adding that the mission hosts Mossad agents and ISIL terrorists.

"The US embassy in Baghdad has turned into a center for Israel's Mossad and ISIL terrorists," Hassan Salem was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language al-Soumeriyeh news website.

He added that the US mission has forgotten its diplomatic responsibility and protection of the American nationals in Iraq and is interfering in the country's internal affairs by spying, spreading rumors and hatching plots.

"The US embassy's violation of laws and forgetting its responsibilities based on the international laws mean that the center could not be called an embassy and therefore, its closure is legally necessary," Salem said.

In relevant remarks in March, a prominent Iraqi security expert had also revealed that the American embassy in Iraq is acting as the US-Israeli operations room against the region.

Abbas al-Ardawi was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Ma'alomeh news website as saying that the US administration was exerting pressures on Baghdad and killing time to prolong its deployment in Iraq.

He added that relocation of terrorists from the town of Baqouz in Eastern Syria to the US bases in Iraq is aimed at security tensions in the country and finding a pretext for continued deployment of American forces, noting that the Iraqi parliamentarians certainly want expulsion of all US forces from the country as soon as possible given the fact that the Iraqi army is fully prepared to fight against the terrorist groups.

Al-Ardawi said that the US embassy in Baghdad was carrying out suspicious measures, adding that it has turned into a large operations room for implementation of plots and operations in Iraq and the region under the supervision of Israeli agents.

Another senior Iraqi expert had in January warned of Washington's attempts to increase its influence in Iraq, saying that Israeli spies and ISIL terrorists were present at the US bases in Iraq.

According to Fars News Agency, Hafez Al-e Basharah told al-Ma'aloumeh news website that the US was attempting to boost its presence in Iraq and the American forces have been stationed in the Southern parts of Baghdad, specially al-Suwaireh and al-Aziziyeh regions.

He added that the Iraqi government's assessments that the foreign military advisors are stationed in the country are outdated, noting that the information obtained by the resistance forces indicate that combat forces are deployed in the US bases and their numbers is on rise each day.

Basharah said that the US forces do not allow any Iraqis to enter the occupied bases in the country to conceal the realities from the public opinion, adding that the Israeli intelligence forces are active in these bases and the ISIL terrorists are sheltered and trained in them.

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