Iraq's prime minister proposes withdrawing foreign troops

The Islamic State terrorist group no longer threatens Iraq, so Baghdad considers it appropriate to begin work on the withdrawal of the US-led coalition's anti-terrorist forces from the country.

Interfax reports quoting EFE that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani made the statement in this regard at a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.

"The terrorist organisation no longer poses a threat to the Iraqi state. Our armed forces are fully prepared to take on the tasks of ensuring security and stability and repelling threats," al-Sudani said.

Albares said the Spanish military was in the country at Iraq's request and would leave when the Iraqi government decided to do so.

US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but have since returned to help fight terrorism: since 2014, the US and its coalition partners have been fighting ISİS, mainly on Iraqi territory.