Iraq

In a historic moment, Catholic Church's head Pope Francis met Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq's pilgrimage city of Najaf on March 6. Eyed at establishing peaceful relations between the Muslims and the Christian minorities in Iraq, the momentous meeting was held in Ayatollah's office. Interestingly, this is the first time a Pope has met Grand Ayatollah. One of the religious officials said that the 40-minute meeting went "… read-more

Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi promised to protect the embassies and diplomats in the country. The statement came after the US warned of shutting its embassy following rocket attack at the US diplomatic compounds. PM Kadhimi said, "Iraq is keen on enforcing the rule of law... protecting foreign missions, and diplomatic buildings." The US blamed the attacks on Iran-based terror groups and appreciated PM Kadhimi's response.

US has confirmed the withdrawal of 2200 troops from Iraq by September end. After withdrawal, 2000 US soldiers will be left to advise and aid Iraqi forces in eradicating Islamic State (IS) militants. In January, the issue with the soldiers became contentious, after US killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani using a drone, in Baghdad. Reportedly, Iraq had declared defeat of IS militants in 2017 and asked the US forces to leave.