Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has announced that U.S. combat troops are no longer needed to bolster Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State militants, according to a wide ranging interview with the Associated Press. Al-Kadhimi said Iraq will, however, still ask the U.S. for support in training and intelligence gathering. The Iraqi P.M. is heading to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with President Joe Biden in what will be a fourth round of strategic talks. “There is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil,” he said, but declined to set his preferred date for their withdrawal. “The war against IS and the readiness of our forces requires a special timetable, and this depends on the negotiations that we will conduct in Washington,” he told the AP.
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