Iraqi Protesters Call on Baghdad to Accelerate US Troops’ Pullout

A large number of Iraqi citizens staged a massive demonstration in the country’s capital city of Baghdad and asked the government to prepare the grounds for a rapid withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq’s soil.

During the large rally held in Baghdad’s al-Tahrir (Freedom) Square on Friday, hundreds of Iraqis voiced their protest at the continued occupation of their country.

They also carried placards calling on the Iraqi officials to end the US occupation of their Muslim country.

They also urged the government to improve social services and life style in the war-torn country and speed up measures to increase employment and fight against financial corruption.

Earlier this week, a prominent Iraqi lawmaker stressed that it is up to the Baghdad government to decide on the presence of the US troops in Iraq beyond the 2001 deadline and no one else is entitled to the right to decide on the provocative issue.

“The decision about the issue is just in the hands of the Government and no group or coalition can demand an extension of the US military presence in Iraq,” member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Faleh al-Sari stressed on Wednesday.

The remarks by al-Sari came after media reports claimed that the president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, had said that the US forces will still be needed in Iraq in 2012 and that their absence could lead to a civil war or sectarian conflicts.

The US military agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington at the end of November 2008 stipulates the withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq by December 31, 2011 as a deadline.

Earlier this year, Iraqi Government Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh categorically denied speculations that Baghdad is going to strike a deal with Washington to extend the presence of the US troops in Iraq beyond the 2011 deadline.

“The report is a sheer lie since no action has been taken in this regard and the government of Iraq hasn’t singed such a deal with the US,” Dabbagh told FNA in Baghdad.