Saleh and Al-Kazemi met and confirmed his support for Baghdad's efforts to protect sovereignty

Macron from Baghdad: "ISIS" and foreign interference are the biggest challenge facing Iraq

Saleh and Macron during a press conference in Baghdad.

EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that Iraq faces two main challenges: ISIS and foreign interference.

"We are here to support Iraq, and we will continue to support it," he added at a press conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart, Barham Salih.

During the conference, the French President affirmed his support for Iraq in fighting the "ISIS" sleeper cells and standing against foreign interference.

"Iraq has gone through a challenging period for many years, with war and terrorism," the French president said.

"You have to lead a transitional phase ... France will be by your side so that the international community can support you," he added.

For his part, Saleh thanked Macron for the support provided by France in the fight against ISIS, expressing his hope that Macron will make a longer visit to Iraq next year.

Saleh said that Iraq should not be an arena for a proxy struggle between other countries, stressing "the importance of drying up sources of terrorist financing."

For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazimi expressed during a joint press conference with the French President, his hope that France and Europe would help "restore stability" to the region.

"We do not want to be an arena for confrontations, but rather a region of stability and moderation," he said, adding that France and Iraq would sign agreements in the field of energy in the future, in addition to deepening military cooperation between the two countries.

He added that he had spoken with Macron about a future project to use nuclear energy to generate electricity and peaceful projects under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency that would create jobs and address the electricity shortage.

Macron said that they also discussed military cooperation against ISIS and French support for a metro project in Baghdad.

He stated that any military cooperation with Iraq must respect its sovereignty, adding that France supports Al-Kazemi's efforts to consolidate Iraqi sovereignty, as well as "reconciling the positions" of all armed forces, referring to armed Shiite factions, most of which support Iran.

The French President had arrived in Baghdad from Beirut on his first official visit to Iraq, with the aim of helping him to assert his "sovereignty".

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