UPDATED: Iraq parliament panel asks government to ‘reciprocate’ to U.S. travel curbs
Iraqi parliament.
The committee made its call after a meeting in Baghdad.
“We ask the Iraqi government to reciprocate to the decision taken by the U.S administration,” said the committee in a statement read to Reuters by one its members, Hassan Shwerid.
“Iraq is in the front line of the war of terrorism (..) and it is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way.”
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an order freezing for 90 days the issuance of visas for immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia for national security considerations. The move caused a state of chaos across world airports as authorities and U.S. embassies began to implement the directives. Protests broke out in the U.S. against the move.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization on Sunday called on the Iraqi government to ban U.S. nationals from entering Iraq and to expel those who are already in the country, in a reaction to the new U.S. travel curbs on Iraqis.
Popular Mobilization is mainly a coalition of Shi’ite paramilitary groups armed and trained by Iran to fight Islamic State. It became an Iraqi government-approved body last year.
The call to ban U.S. nationals came in a statement published by its spokesman, Ahmed al-Assadi.
On Sunday, the U.S. embassy in Iraq said it was implementing the new directives.
Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday it would apply similar restrictions on visitors from the United States.
Iraq plans to lobby the U.S. administration to mitigate the impact of the new travel curbs on Iraqis, to preserve cooperation in the war on Islamic State, two members of parliament, who declined to be identified, told Reuters on Sunday.
The Iraqi government has so far declined to comment on the executive order.