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Haider al-Abadi, the new prime minister of iraq, says no American ground troops will be allowed to be stationed in the country, in an interview with the Associate Press. Al-Abadi also described as "puzzling" the exclusion of Iran from the coalition being put together to fight ISIS, and he criticized the West for inaction in Syria. The prime minister praised the United States' air-strikes campaign targeting Islamic State militants, saying it has helped efforts to rein in the extremists who are trying to carve out a caliphate. But he said he sees no need for ground troops from America or other nations. He said: "We don't want them. We won't allow them. Full stop." Al-Abadi recently replaced Nouri al-Maliki, who was seen as an obstacle to unifying Iraq.