Al-Eissawi calls for U.S. withdrawal without causing security vacuum

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Rafeaa al-Eissawi on Monday stressed the importance of coordinating the replacement operations of the American units in the cities with the Iraqi forces in a way that does not cause a security vacuum. “Al-Eissawi received at his office in Baghdad on Monday (May 4) an American delegation from the defense and treasury departments as well as representatives of the U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden to discuss the future of the bilateral relations in the light of the strategic and security agreements between Baghdad and Washington,” al-Eissawi’s office said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The meeting tackled the security situation and the starting of the coordination operations of replacing the U.S. forces with the Iraqi troops in the Iraqi cities,” it added. “The Iraqi official expressed hope that these operations took place without causing any security vacuum in these cities,” the statement added. SH (P)/SR 1