(Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani defended the presence of U.S. troops in his country and set no timetable for their withdrawal, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday.
Referring to the U.S. and NATO troop contingents that train and assist Iraqi units in countering Islamic State but largely stay out of combat, he told the newspaper in the interview that the foreign forces are still needed. “Elimination of ISIS needs some more time,” he said.
(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)
