Irak

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said German troops are ready to stay in Iraq — should the Iraqi government wish it. The German parliament has also signaled its support for troops to stay put.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has told the U.S. secretary of state to send a delegation to Iraq tasked with formulating the mechanism for the withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraq, according to a statement released Friday.

Members of the U.S.-led Coalition against Islamic State are pulling troops from Iraq as training of both the Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga are paused due to security concerns and uncertainty over the future of the multinational mission.

The Pentagon is immediately sending 750 more troops to the Middle East after pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday.

The State Department plans to dramatically downsize the number of American personnel in Iraq, according to a memo sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and obtained by CNN.

Deliberate killings, abduction and arbitrary detention are among abuses that continue against Iraqi anti-government demonstrators by unknown groups, according to a UN report released Wednesday.

On 11 December 2019, Christoph Buik was appointed as new head of mission for the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq). He will take up his duties on 1 January 2020. Christoph Buik, a German national, is currently Director of the UN Standing Police Capacity.

A third anti-government activist has been murdered in Iraq in less than 10 days, police and medics said Wednesday, as the United Nations accused militias of killing and abducting demonstrators.

Iraq's parliament has approved the resignation of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi following weeks of unrest. … Some 400 people have been killed since protests began in Baghdad and other cities at the start of October.

UN chief António Guterres has expressed deep concern over reports of the continued use of live ammunition against demonstrators in Iraq. … Earlier on Friday, the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on Twitter that the increasing numbers of deaths and injuries in the country cannot be tolerated.