Rome: The Italian government has pledged its support to Iraq to advance its goals of stabilization and continue the fight against terrorism.
Iraq’s President and Prime Minister hold talks with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in Baghdad on Thursday.
President Barham Saleh stressed the need to mitigate the region’s woes and halt escalation through dialogue.
“Iraq is an essential element to regional stability,” he said in a statement.
Saleh and the head of Italian diplomacy called for bilateral ties and “joint bilateral cooperation to strengthen them in various fields, and to address various challenges, in particular to counter terrorism and extremism, strengthen economic and cultural ties, with dangerous repercussions.” discussed efforts to combat climate change and to protect the environment,” a spokesman for the Italian Foreign Ministry told Arab News.
Saleh praised Italy’s supportive role for Iraqi security forces in combating terrorism within the international coalition and NATO, in addition to “contribution to the humanitarian and social aspects.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stressed the importance of leveraging Italy’s experience in fighting corruption and organized crime networks.
“Di Mao and al-Kadhimi discussed ways to develop Iraqi-Italian relations in various political and economic spheres and in the war on terrorism,” the same source told Arab News.
The two sides also discussed improving security relations, particularly with regard to the training of Iraqi forces under the NATO framework, with the defense treaty moving to a non-combatant role in the country.
Di Maio reaffirmed Rome’s support for Iraq and its government.
“Italy is committed to the stabilization and development of this country, and continues to help the government in a concrete way to fight against terrorism,” he said.
He also praised the Iraqi government’s efforts to “bring ideas closer and enhance local and regional stability” and wished to promote bilateral commercial ties.
Italy is part of the International Coalition of Troops in Iraq, which currently has about 1,000 Italian troops stationed. The country will lead the NATO mission in Iraq from May 2022.
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