Al-Sudani, UK Home Secretary discuss bilateral relations in Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani met with the United Kingdom Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday in Baghdad to discuss enhancing bilateral relations, with a focus on security cooperation, combating drug trafficking, and addressing cross-border crime. Both sides also highlighted plans to formalize a security memorandum of understanding between their interior ministries.

Full statement from Al-Sudani’s media office:

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani met today with the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary, Ms. Yvette Cooper, to discuss avenues of mutual cooperation and ways to strengthen bilateral relations.

The meeting included discussions on expanding collaboration in security matters and advancing joint efforts to combat drug trafficking and cross-border crime. Both parties highlighted the upcoming signing of a security memorandum of understanding between the interior ministries of the two countries.

Prime Minister Al-Sudani emphasized Iraq’s openness to building diverse partnerships and fostering productive collaborations, particularly following the conclusion of the mission of the Global Coalition Against Daesh to combat ISIS in Iraq. He also expressed Iraq’s aspiration to establish a robust economic partnership with the United Kingdom that reflects the historical ties between the two nations, particularly in trade and economic sectors. He reaffirmed Iraq’s readiness to embrace productive economic partnerships that drive development, rebuild infrastructure, and support national projects.

For her part, Ms. Cooper conveyed greetings from UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to Prime Minister Al-Sudani and reiterated the British government’s anticipation of his official visit to London, which had been postponed due to regional developments. She underscored the UK’s eagerness to deepen cooperation and partnership with Iraq across various fields.