Iraq’s President Barham Salih met with senior UK officials on Thursday to further strengthen bilateral ties and military cooperation between Iraq and the UK in fighting terrorism.
“The war on terror is ongoing and that there is a need for international solidarity in the face of terrorist organizations that present both a national and international threat” read an official statement from the Iraqi Presidency.
Salih met in Baghdad on Thursday with United Kingdom’s Senior Defense Advisor for the Middle East and Africa, Lieutenant General (LTG) Sir John Lorimer, and the UK’s Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey.
Sir Lorimer reaffirmed UK support for Iraqi security forces in terms of training and arms to achieve stability and security in Iraq, according to the statement.
“Iraq could be a hub of security in the region if sovereignty were respected,” Salih added.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani met with LTG Lorimer and Ambassador Hickey on Wednesday to discuss military collaboration and security reform in the region as part of continued efforts to defeat ISIS remnants.
ISIS took control of large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Although the Iraqi government announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in December 2017, remnants of the group have returned to carrying out insurgent activities across the country.
Separately, Moscow announced that Iraqi Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Fuad Hussein will pay an official visit to Moscow on November 25, to hold talks with Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this will be Hussein’s first visit to the Russian capital in the capacity of the foreign minister, adding that both men are set to discuss key regional and international issues, foremost of which, the latest situation in Syria, and Yemen, in addition to focusing on consolidating efforts to fight international terrorism.
She added that Lavrov will also hold talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow on November 23.
