Iraq rejects granting immunity to US forces

Baghdad has not agreed to grant immunity from local prosecution to US forces that are being deployed to Iraq, which is fighting against Takfiri militants, reports say.
According to Iraqi local media reports, a government source on Tuesday rejected the claims after reports from the Pentagon said Iraq had assured Washington that US forces would not be subject to possible prosecution in Iraqi courts.
The source, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, said that granting immunity to US forces is a “baseless” claim made by “some media outlets.”
The reports also said that the issue of US troops’ immunity was part of a deal for Iraq to receive military aid from the US.
Earlier in June, US President Barack Obama approved the deployment of hundreds of special operations forces into Iraq to help Baghdad halt the advances of militants of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the first teams of up to 300 US military advisers have started their mission in Baghdad.
Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in fierce clashes with the ISIL terrorists since two weeks ago. The militants have threatened to take their acts of violence to the capital Baghdad.
However, the advance of the ISIL Takfiris has been slowed down as Iraqi military forces and volunteer fighters have begun engaging them on several fronts, pushing the militants out of several areas they had earlier overrun.
Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki has repeatedly said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some other Persian Gulf Arab states are supporting the militancy in Iraq.