WASHINGTON (HRNW) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Iraq s designated prime minister to protect US troops and meet grievances of a months-long protest movement ahead of a parliamentary confidence vote.
In the first substantive US comment on Mohammad Allawi since he was named on February 1 as a consensus candidate, Pompeo said he told him by telephone that the United States backed a “strong, sovereign and prosperous” Iraq.
Pompeo “stressed Iraq s obligation to protect US and coalition diplomats, forces and facilities,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Pompeo spoke to Allawi about “the urgency with which Iraq s next government must put an end to the killing of protesters, seek justice for those killed and wounded, and address their legitimate grievances,” she said.
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