Senior Mufti:

Most Iraqi Shiites, Sunnis Ready to Fight for Expelling US

A senior Iraqi Sunni Mufti said an overwhelming majority in his country's both Shiite and Sunni populations are prepared for jihad (religious war of defense) to force the US pull out its military forces from the Muslim state.

News ID: 450600

Date: 11 August 2020 - 12:13

Rasa - "8 out of 10 Shiites are ready for resistance and prepared for expelling the American forces, and many sides, including (prominent Shiite 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 US attacked Iraq), to fight against the US military presence, noting that they can also supply weapons from different countries now.

The Iraqi parliament has passed and approved a plan to expel foreign troops from its soil on January 6, 2019, two days after the assassination of the late 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 US military terrorist attack near Baghdad airport.

Senior lawmakers in Iraq have reiterated time and again that withdrawal of foreign forces 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.