Pompeo urges Iraq’s Allawi to protect US troops, strike deal with Kurds and Sunnis

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – In a phone call on Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Iraq’s Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi to protect US troops stationed in Iraq and to reach an agreement with Kurdish and Sunni parties over the composition of his new cabinet.

Allawi was tasked on February 1 with forming a new Iraqi government after caretaker PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi resigned in late 2019 in the face of mass protests over corruption, unemployment, and the lack of basic public services. 

This is Allawi’s first phone call with the US secretary of state. 

“During the call, the latest political developments on the regional and international levels were reviewed, and the necessity for coordination and joint work was emphasized,” read a statement from the Iraqi prime minister’s office. 

“Pleased to speak with new #Iraq PM-designate Mohammed Allawi.  I welcomed his promise to hold early elections, reaffirmed our commitment to Iraq, urged an end to violence, and called for accountability and urgent action to address protesters’ legitimate demands,” Pompeo said in a tweet following the call. 

A longer State Department statement included mention of some thorny issues between the two countries, including the recent spate of rocket attacks against Iraqi bases hosting US troops in Iraq.

One such rocket attack on December 27, 2019 killed a US civilian contractor in Kirkuk and injured other personnel.  

Pro-Iran militias are thought to be behind the attacks – acting as proxies for Tehran, which is locked in an ever-escalating tit-for-tat with Washington.

Iran and the US appeared on the brink of all-out war after the US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. Tehran responded with ballistic missile strikes on Iraqi bases hosting US troops.

Iraqi Shiite politicians responded to the killing of Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a US drone strike by demanding the removal of all US troops from Iraqi soil. 

Pompeo “stressed Iraq’s obligation to protect US and Coalition diplomats, forces, and facilities,” the State Department statement added. 

On Monday, influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has become the figurehead of anti-US feeling in Iraq, accused the Americans of interfering. 

“Pompeo calling Allawi is an intervention in Iraqi affairs, and, if it is repeated, we will have a stance,” Sadr told Iraqi TV channel al-Sharqiya. 

Allawi faces an uphill struggle. Last week he called for an extraordinary session of parliament to be held on Monday to seek approval for his cabinet. The session did not materialized, however, as parliament’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities continue to demand their choice of candidates.

Kurds and Sunnis have largely rejected Allawi’s approach to picking his own “independent, technocratic” candidates, fearing their communities will be marginalized from power by the Shiite majority. 

A Kurdish delegation composed of multiple parties, including those with intense political rivalries, returned to the Kurdistan Region from Baghdad on Sunday. 

They are expected to meet with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and other top officials on Monday to decide whether to boycott or join the cabinet.

Pompeo “urged the new Prime Minister to resolve differences with Iraq’s Kurdish and Sunni political leaders to assure success in pursuing the vital tasks faced by his government,” the State Department said.

Rejecting Allawi’s call for a parliamentary session on Monday, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and his deputy Hassan al-Kaabi said they must first meet to examine the resumes of Allawi’s chosen ministers and his cabinet manifesto.

Pompeo also used the call to raise concerns about Iraq’s handling of the mass protests sweeping the country’s central and southern provinces, where kidnappings, torture, and targeted killings have drawn condemnation. 

At least 528 people have been killed and 24,000 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces since the unrest began on October 1, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR). 

“The Secretary and the Prime Minister-designate also agreed on the importance of beginning reforms that would better position the government to provide the Iraqi people a life of dignity, prosperity, and security,” the State Department added.