WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will welcome Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi to the White House this month, his office said Friday.
The July 26 meeting will “highlight the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq,” the White House said in a statement.
Kadhemi and US envoy Brett McGurk discussed the withdrawal of troops from Iraq Thursday in Baghdad.
Some 3,500 foreign troops are still on Iraqi territory, including 2,500 Americans, who have been posted to help fight the Daesh group since 2014.
In Washington, Kadhemi is expected to push for a concrete timetable of American troop withdrawal. The implementation of their departure could take years.
Iraq, long an arena for bitter rivalry between the US and Iran despite their shared enmity toward IS, has seen growing numbers of rocket and drone attacks on American targets in recent months.
Kadhemi’s meeting with McGurk came a little more than a week after 14 rockets were fired at the Ain Assad air base, which hosts American troops in western Iraq, and three others which landed near the US embassy in Baghdad.
They were the latest in a spate of attacks targeting US military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq. The attacks have been blamed on pro-Iranian armed groups within a state-sponsored paramilitary force.
Last month, the US launched air strikes against pro-Iranian militias along the Iraq-Syria border.
Biden to host Iraqi PM at White House on July 26
https://arab.news/9j96r
Biden to host Iraqi PM at White House on July 26
UNICEF chief says GCC central to supporting operations across the region
DUBAI: The Gulf Cooperation Council is playing a central role in combating acute crises affecting children and displaced people across the region, says UNICEF’s Gulf Area Office director, Lana Al-Wreikat.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit on Tuesday, Wreikat said the GCC had become central to supporting refugees, hygiene and children’s health through funding and diplomatic support.
“Our work with the GCC countries when it comes to the humanitarian crisis goes beyond the refugee response,” Wreikat said.
“We are also dealing with displaced communities inside countries. We also deal with big issues and sectors like the water, sanitation, hygiene, promotion, nutrition, child protection, education. We have our core commitments for children and young people, and these translate across all these sectors. The GCC … has been a very generous donor for us.”
Wreikat revealed the UAE had just announced a $550 million donation for the UN’s 2026 global appeal, part of which goes to funding UNICEF’s operations.
She said Gulf countries had become crucial to supporting the organization diplomatically, especially in difficult situations with access difficulties.
“They also play a big role in terms of the humanitarian diplomacy and negotiations around access, where we really need to support maximum number of children,” she said.
“In terms of their priorities, what’s really high on the agenda is Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria.”
