US rejects multiple requests for Sudani to visit Washington: militant group spokesman

BAGHDAD, August 14 — The Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada militant group’s spokesperson Kazem Al-Fartousi has revealed that repeated requests by the Iraqi government for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani to visit the United States have been consistently denied by Washington.

Al-Fartousi spoke to journalist Laith Al-Jazairi in an interview, as reported by 964:

The United States does not want Al-Sudani to visit. The request for the visit has been made, but it has not been realized. The visit has been denied multiple times.

The United States does not want to grant full legitimacy to this government, while at the same time, it maintains communication through the US Ambassador.

Sending the Iraqi Defense Minister (to the US) is acceptable if it’s at the request of the US Defense Minister. However, what has been discussed and circulated seems to be an attempt to isolate the Defense Minister and security agencies from the Iraqi government, with a deceptive encouragement of the Defense Minister.

When the Americans talk with the Defense Minister about displaced people, what does the Defense Minister have to do with the return of displaced people in northeastern Syria, including Iraqi Daesh members?

There are semi-accurate expressions suggesting that Daesh members should return to Iraq.

The Iraqi government is aware that more than 5,000 Daesh members have been mobilized in the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

As a resistance group, we have never asked the Iraqi government to sever ties with the United States.

The Iraqi government will not agree to allow the Americans to carry out the task of creating a border between Iraq and Syria.

Who are the forces responsible for creating the border? Either forces that entered without the government’s request, or forces that are already present. This contradicts what former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi claimed about the absence of combat forces.

The Iraqi people as a whole, including the Sadrist Movement, are now fighting the occupier.

There is an occupation in Iraq, and no one has the right to question when we resist and when we do not.

No one has the right to determine which faction we fight with.

No one has the right to ask us which weapons we resist with.

We are a nation whose sovereignty has been breached, and it is our right to defend our sovereignty. This issue is not about governmental dictates but about estimations.