Haider al-Abadi said he is against Arab states in the international coalition against ISIS joining airstrikes in the country.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has said he is "totally" opposed to Arab nations conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the country during an interview with the BBC.
Abadi said warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition had "filled many gaps" in the country's fight against ISIS fighters.
Arab states such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have joined an international alliance against the jihadi group.
However, aircraft from those countries have so far only joined the U.S. in hitting ISIS targets in Syria, with forces from the U.S., France and the U.K. carrying out the 230 strikes that have so far been conducted in Iraq.
In the interview, he said that Iraq's armed forces would be able to defeat ISIS "if we have good air cover."
However, he stressed that no foreign troops were needed on the ground. He said: "We are very clear we will not accept any troops on ground except Iraqi troops."
Abadi became the Prime Minister of Iraq last month, with the aim of creating an inclusive government containing representatives from all the country's ethnic groups.
Pool / Reuters
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1DZMVuo
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