Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraq’s parliament has urged the government to set a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, two months after the government declared victory over Islamic State militants.

The parliament voted on Thursday for a decision to oblige the government to set a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops, NRT reported.

Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesperson of the Iraqi Cabinet, said last month it was logical that the coalition would reduce the number of its troops in Iraq after victory was declared over Islamic State militants in December.

Also in February, Saeed al-Jayyashi, an adviser to the Iraqi government, told Shafaq News website that a security committee will observe the regulation of the activities of the U.S.-led international coalition.

The U.S.-led coalition intervened in Iraq after IS miliants declared in 2014 the establishment of a self-proclaimed “caliphate” rule in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

But a spokesman of the Pentagon was quoted saying after the Iraqi announcement that U.S. troops were only shifting mission from combat to training, without plans for a sharp drawdown of troops.

The Pentagon had said in December it was keeping nearly 5000 troops in Iraq.









</s>BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament demanded on Thursday that the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops stationed in the country to help fight Islamic State, a ruling coalition lawmaker told Reuters.



"Parliament voted on a decision to thank friendly nations for their support in defeating ISIS and at the same time to demand the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops," said Husham al-Suhail.



"It is up to the government to decide how long we need them here -- one year, two years, it's up to them," he added.



A US-led coalition was formed in 2014 to fight Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and has thousands of troops deployed in Iraq. It provided key air support to Iraqi security forces who declared victory over the militants in December.</s>Members of Iraqi security forces pose for a photo in Hawija district, which was cleared from all Daesh terrorists almost 5 months ago, of Kirkuk, Iraq, on Wednesday. Iraqi security forces provide road security for 580 families of Hawija, who live in camps in Kirkuk (Anadolu Agency photo)

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq’s parliament demanded on Thursday that the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops stationed in the country to help fight Daesh insurgents, a ruling coalition lawmaker said.

A US-led coalition was formed in 2014 and with thousands of troops and air support helped Iraqi security forces and a Kurdish-led Syrian militia roll back Daesh across large swathes of Iraq and Syria and destroy the cross-border caliphate set up by the extremists. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi declared victory over Daesh in December.

Daesh has since reverted to a guerrilla-style insurgency and continues to carry out attacks on selected targets.

The Iraqi parliament’s demand underscores the balancing act Abadi must conduct between the United States and Iran, his two biggest military allies who are themselves arch-adversaries.

There are no Iranian regular forces in Iraq but there are Iranian-backed Shiite militia allied with Abadi’s government.

“Parliament voted for a decision to thank friendly nations for their support in defeating Daesh and at the same time to demand the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops,” lawmaker Husham Al Suhail told Reuters.

“It is up to the government to decide how long we need them here — one year, two years, it’s up to them.”

Thursday’s vote, backed by all but a handful of the 177 lawmakers present, was sponsored by lawmakers from the ruling Shiite Muslim bloc in parliament.

“The timing of the vote, right before the election, is a message from pro-Iran parties that they do not want American troops in Iraq forever,” said political analyst Ahmed Younis.

“They are achieving two things — pressure on Abadi’s government to expel foreign troops, as well as scoring political points before the election.”

Abadi is seeking a second term in parliamentary elections scheduled for May.

A spokesman for the coalition told Reuters the presence of its troops hinged on Iraqi government approval.

“Our continued presence in Iraq will be conditions-based, proportional to need, in coordination with and by the approval of the Iraqi government,” said US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon.

The coalition says it has begun a transition from focusing on retaking territory to consolidating gains.

It has trained 125,000 members of the Iraqi security forces, 22,000 of which were regional Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and helped retake almost a third of Iraq from Daesh through air and logistical support.

The coalition has drawn criticism, however, for the number of civilian casualties resulting from air strikes.</s>The Iraqi parliament on Thursday demanded the government to develop a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, a source in the parliament told Sputnik.The US-led international coalition was providing military support to Iraq, withOn Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister said that coalition force numbers were now "very limited" and emphasized it wasThere is no base or airport controlled by foreign forces... No aircraft lands or takes off without our authorization," he told a news conference.US forces occupied Iraq for eight years, between a 2003 invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein and their withdrawal in December 2011. Three years later, Daesh seized a third of Iraq, sweeping aside security forces.In recent years, both Syria and Iraq have been influenced by activities of numerous terrorist groups, such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) that have controlled vast territories of the Middle Eastern nation.Due to successful military campaigns and support of allies, troops loyal to Damascus and Baghdad have mostly driven terrorists out, but a number of sleeping cells still exist in the region and carry out deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets.</s>BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament demanded on Thursday that the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops stationed in the country to help fight Islamic State (IS) insurgents, a ruling coalition lawmaker said.

A U.S.-led coalition was formed in 2014 and with thousands of troops and air support helped Iraqi security forces and a Kurdish-led Syrian militia roll back IS across large swathes of Iraq and Syria and destroy the cross-border caliphate set up by the jihadists. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS in December.

IS has since reverted to a guerrilla-style insurgency and continues to carry out attacks on selected targets.

The Iraqi parliament’s demand underscores the balancing act Abadi must conduct between the United States and Iran, his two biggest military allies who are themselves arch-adversaries.

“Parliament voted for a decision to thank friendly nations for their support in defeating Islamic State and at the same time to demand the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops,” lawmaker Husham al-Suhail told Reuters.

“It is up to the government to decide how long we need them here – one year, two years, it’s up to them.”

Thursday’s vote, backed by all but a handful of the 177 lawmakers present, was sponsored by lawmakers from the ruling Shi‘ite Muslim bloc in parliament.

“The timing of the vote, right before the election, is a message from pro-Iran parties that they do not want American troops in Iraq forever,” said political analyst Ahmed Younis.

“They are achieving two things – pressure on Abadi’s government to expel foreign troops, as well as scoring political points before the election.”

Abadi is seeking a second term in parliamentary elections scheduled for May.

A spokesman for the coalition told Reuters the presence of its troops hinged on Iraqi government approval.

“Our continued presence in Iraq will be conditions-based, proportional to need, in coordination with and by the approval of the Iraqi government,” said U.S. Army Colonel Ryan Dillon.

The coalition says it has begun a transition from focusing on retaking territory to consolidating gains.

It has trained 125,000 members of the Iraqi security forces, 22,000 of which were regional Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, and helped retake almost a third of Iraq from Islamic State through air and logistical support.

The coalition has drawn criticism, however, for the number of civilian casualties resulting from air strikes. At least 841 civilians were killed this way as of January 2018. It says it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.—Reuters</s>BAGHDAD—Iraq’s parliament on Thursday called for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops, putting pressure on the country’s leader ahead of May elections as he seeks to prevent a resurgence by Islamic State militants.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the terror group three months ago, after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ousted Islamic State from the last territory it controlled in the country. But since then, Islamic State militants have reverted to guerrilla warfare in northern Iraq, exposing persistent...</s>With midterms either resuming or beginning for most students and final exams lingering around the corner, scheduling your time is becoming more of a challenge.

As reading week has now come to an end and the regret of not being as productive as your professors expected you to be when they assigned their due dates has set in, it would be nice to have a more convenient way to organize your workload.

An exam schedule for midterm exams, like the one that is currently available on Mosaic for finals, could help reduce the stress that already exists for students while they try to prioritize their to-do lists.

It would also help students plan ahead of time for the reading week and allocate their time according to the importance of assignment weights.

Presently, students rely on course syllabi on Avenue to Learn for midterm exam dates. However, this is not always productive, as sometimes instructors do not decide the midterm date in advance for certain courses and students are forced to readjust their schedules as a result.

This results in either lack of proper preparation for exams or student having to pull all-nighters to complete work from other courses with less effort than they would have if they had the time to finish assignments wholeheartedly.

However, a posted exam schedule would not only help students, but also instructors to mentally prepare for their schedule and organize their time accordingly.

This means that students would not only be able to better organize their to-do lists, but also their leisure time.

As reading week proves every time it comes around, students need a breather whether we anticipate it or not. Though we plan to complete assignments, catch up on readings and study for upcoming exams every reading week, it is usually the case that we don’t get to doing so until the weekend before the break is over anyway.

With busy schedules, students are sometimes too busy to fit in time for relaxation and we may find ourselves procrastinating in times we really shouldn’t be.

This may be the product of lack of organization or merely poor coordination between professors in planning due dates, which is a conspiracy that students joke about often.

If there was a way to make planning easier and more productive between instructors and students, this might be a good start.

In addition to making orgaization and time management more manageable, having a midterm exam schedule available at the beginning of the semester on Mosaic would also allow for international student and commuters to better plan for trips to visit home without worrying about the possibility of missing something in their time away from school.

An exam schedule for midterms on Mosaic would help increase organization, productivity and time management for students, especially around times that are meant for a compromise between studying and relaxing such as reading week.</s>An up to date event schedule for the UFC in 2018.</s>"The Iraqi parliament expresses its gratitude to all countries which have supported Iraq in its fight against Daesh (banned in Russia) and calls for the government to draw up a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops," the speaker's office said.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister said that coalition force numbers were now "very limited" and emphasized it was "out of the question to give them a base on our territory".

"There is no base or airport controlled by foreign forces… No aircraft lands or takes off without our authorization," he told a news conference.

US forces occupied Iraq for eight years, between a 2003 invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein and their withdrawal in December 2011. Three years later, Daesh seized a third of Iraq, sweeping aside security forces.

In recent years, both Syria and Iraq have been influenced by activities of numerous terrorist groups, such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) that have controlled vast territories of the Middle Eastern nation.

Due to successful military campaigns and support of allies, troops loyal to Damascus and Baghdad have mostly driven terrorists out, but a number of sleeping cells still exist in the region and carry out deadly attacks against both military and civilian targets.
The Parliament of Iraq votes to oblige the federal government to set a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops.