Iraqi government demands US Congress delegation to leave country

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government has demanded the American Embassy in Baghdad to ask a U.S. Congress delegation, now on a visit for Iraq, to leave the country “in protest for statements by the delegation members in support of (the anti-Tehran) Mujahedin E-Khalq Organization and their demands for compensations by Iraq for what they described as US sacrifices in Iraq,” its Official Spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh said on Saturday.   “The Iraqi government has demanded the American Embassy in Baghdad to instruct the U.S. Congress delegation, now visiting the country, to leave Iraq , in protest to the said statements by its members,” Dabbagh told al-Hurra Satellite TV Channel.   The U.S. Congress delegation had arrived in Baghdad early this week and conferred with Iraq ’s Prime   Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, on bilateral relations, within the framework of the Strategic Agreement between Iraq and the United States , as well as the situation in the Region.   “The talks between Maliki and the U.S. Congress delegation had also covered the recent developments in Syria , Yemen and Libiya,” according to a statement by Maliki’s office.   The statement quoted Maliki as having reaffirmed “ Iraq ’s support for the popular movements in the Region, demanding freedoms and reforms, away from violence and the use of force,” along with calling for the “expansion of cooperation between Iraq and the United States in different spheres.”   The Congress delegation, the statement stressed “had expressed United State ’s wish to boost joint relations and increasing cooperation, according to the said Strategic Agreement.”   Al-Hurra Channel, meanwhile, had quoted the Congress delegation’s wish to “observe the conditions of Ashraf Camp, inhabited by members of the anti-Tehran Mujiden E-Khalq Organization, based in northheast Iraq and the impacts of the offensive, launched by the Iraqi forces against the camp last April, killing 35 of its inhabitants.”   The U.S. Congress delegation member, Rora Bakher, has demanded the Iraqi government to “pay part of the U.S. aids, spent by the United States for Iraq over the past 8 years, when the economic situation in Iraq improves.”   Bakher, in a statement at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad had said that “the united States was facing difficult economic conditions, and it, of course shall appreciate the support by its friends, the same way it had supported them when they have been in need,” adding that he had discussed the issue with the Iraqi Prime Minister, during their said meeting.   SKH (FT) 1072