American official meets the presidencies in Baghdad

Shafaq News / The US embassy in Iraq announced on Wednesday that its Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern affairs, David Schenker had a visit to Baghdad yesterday to discuss relations between the two countries.

In a statement received by Shafaq News, the embassy said that "in the course of (Schenker) meetings with both Prime Minister , Adel Abdul Mahdi , President of the Republic Barham Salih and Speaker of the Parliament ,Muhammad al-Halbousi, the Assistant Secretary highlighted the importance of the relationship between the United States and Iraq and the ongoing cooperation to support a prosperous, stable and democratic Iraq. "

The statement added that "Assistant Secretary of State Schenker condemned the continuous attacks against peaceful demonstrators who exercise their democratic right to freedom of expression, including their demands for political and economic reform," calling on "the Iraqi government to put an end to these criminal practices and bring the perpetrators to justice."

Baghdad and the Shiite-dominated regions and cities of the south have been witnessing since October 1, demonstrations calling for early elections, fighting corruption, and the removal of all political parties that have ruled Iraq since 2003 until now.

These protests prompted Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign from his post, under pressure from the religious authority of Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

According to the statement, the US official expressed his "support for the basic democratic right of Iraqi citizens to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression," stressing that "the United States respects the important and permanent role that the authority plays in Iraq."

On Tuesday, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission announced that 545 people were killed and 24,000 injured, during violence that accompanied popular protests since the beginning of October 2019.

 The Assistant Secretary of State stressed "the strong US partnership with the Iraqi security forces that safeguard and enhance Iraq's sovereignty and help achieve our common goal, which is to defeat extremist terrorist organizations like ISIS."

While the Iraqi Parliament voted at the beginning of this year to pass a resolution requiring the exit of foreign forces from Iraq amid a boycott from Kurdish blocs and the majority of Sunni blocs.