Kurdistan PM Barzani warns of great possibility of Islamic State terrorist group return

The Iraqi Kurdistan PM Masrour Barzani expressed his support for US troops remaining in Iraq and said he would be open to allowing the US to deploy Patriot anti-missile systems. He said he was very worried about the escalating tensions between the US and Iran. He refused to comment on the US killing of Qassem Soleimani, noting however that while “Iran is our neighbour, the United States is our friend”.

He criticised Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, for recently declaring that his father Massoud Barzani begged Soleimani to come to the rescue when the IS group was marching towards Kurdistan in 2014.

Barzani also lamented Turkey’s “invasion” of northern Syria, saying it was not helpful and that it risked changing the demographics on the ground.

He voiced cautious hope that the new Iraqi prime minister, Mohammad Allawi, would be more successful than his predecessor, noting that it was urgent to respond to the demands of the protesters. He said it was up to the Iraqi people to decide whether early elections should be held.

Source: France 24