Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim urges reinforcing military coop. with Kuwait

Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Iraqi cleric and politician Ammar al-Hakim has called for reinforcing military cooperation with Kuwait following the crushing defeat of Islamic State in Iraq last year.

Al-Hakim, who leads Iraq’s Hikmah (wisdom) movement, made the remarks during a meeting Thursday with Kuwaiti Defense Minister Nasser al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, Alghad Press quoted his media office as saying in a statement.

During the meeting, al-Hakim stressed that the military victory achieved over Islamic State in Iraq would “serve regional and international security, and ensure safety of the neighboring countries.”

He called on the Kuwaiti defense minister to step up military cooperation and exchange information to defeat terrorism and extremist thoughts via “untraditional means.”

Al-Hakim warned that terrorism does not target Iraq only but it “poses a serious threat to the whole world countries.”

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by the US-led international coalition, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.