Iraq, US Need Inter-Parliament Dialogue To Address Military Presence, Sanctions - Lawmaker

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2019) The Iraqi Parliament and US Congress need to establish inter-parliamentary dialogue to address a variety of issues, including the United States' military presence in and imposition of sanctions against Iraq, member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Sarkawt Shamsulddin told Sputnik.

Shamsulddin noted that there is no dialogue between the Iraqi Parliament and US Congress at present.

"Of course there should be [dialogue]," Shamsulddin said. "If we are partners and allies, of course there should be because there are things that we can do as parliament and also they can do as Congress. Military purchases, for example... or the US military presence in Iraq. Parliament needs to have a role in that, how we allow them [the United States] to stay, whether we allow them or not."

In addition, US sanctions are still imposed against Iraq and the physical connections are nonexistent so that currently there are direct flights to Iraq from the United States.

"So, we need Congress to lift some of these sanctions on Iraq," Shamsulddin said.

Asked whether Iraq and the United States have held talks regarding the sanctions, Shamsulddin said discussions took place before the emergence of the Islamic State terror group (banned in Russia), but the discussions were halted after 2014.

"I am not sure if the government is going to do that [re-launch talks], but as member of Parliament, I will seize any opportunity that will allow us to talk to our counterparts in Congress to re-launch these discussions," Shamsulddin said.

The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the claim that it seeks to destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The United States did not find weapons of mass destruction, executed President Saddam Hussein and installed an interim government tasked with running Iraq before holding elections in 2005.

Meanwhile, Iraq was beset by sectarian violence and a goodportion of its territory was seized by the Islamic State. By the end of 2017, Iraqi forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, retook nearly all Islamic State-held territory.

The sectarian warfare reached its most intense phase from 2004 to 2008, when the 3,000 US soldiers were killed and more than 23,000 wounded. Iraqi civilian fatalities are estimated at tens of thousands.