Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ja’afari has once again warned about the global dimension of the threat posed by the Islamic State terrorists while rejecting foreign boots on the country's soil to battle the terror group.
The top Iraqi diplomat further insisted on Saturday that the government in Baghdad has never asked for any foreign ground deployment in the Arab country, Iraq-based Shafaq News reported.
Ja’afari’s remarks came during meetings on the sidelines of the 69th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem as well as his counterparts from various other nations, including China, Japan and South Korea.
Reiterating that Baghdad does not favor deployment of foreign ground troops to beat the IS terrorists in his country, the senior Iraqi official emphasized that with adequate aerial support, Iraqi army and volunteer forces as well as the country’s Kurdish Peshmerga fighters are well capable of battling the IS terrorists on their own.
The development came following recent assertions by a senior US commander that he would ultimately recommend the deployment of ground forces to fight the IS terrorists inside Iraq.
On September 26, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said international troops would be deployed in Iraq to fight against IS if necessary, adding that he may recommend boots on the ground if aerial attacks were not successful.
Ja’afari also shared his country’s experience with regard to fighting IS terrorists with his counterparts, underlining that the elements have committed crimes against citizens of various ethnic, religious and political backgrounds.
He further told his counterparts that foreign nations taking part in aerial operations over his country must “take into account the sovereignty of Iraq” and stay clear of civilian targets and populated areas.
