29 Mar 2024
Sunday 29 January 2017 - 22:54
Story Code : 248941

Top Iraqi cleric wants Americans out over Trump's ban on Muslims

Press TV- ProminentIraqi cleric, Muqtadaal-Sadr, has censured US President Donald Trumpover his executive order to ban entry into the US ofcitizens fromseven Muslim-majority countries, calling for the expulsion of American nationals from the Arab country in retaliation.


It would be arrogance for you to enter freely Iraq and other countries while barring them the entrance to your country ... and therefore you should get your nationals out, Sadr said in a statement published on his website on Sunday.

Iraqi parl. says govt. must reciprocate US travel ban

Meanwhile, Iraqi parliament'sforeign affairs committee has decried the measure as unfair, and asked the Iraqi government to reciprocate the travel curbs imposed on Iraqis.

We ask the Iraqi government to reciprocate ...the decision taken by the US administration, the committee said in a statement, adding, Iraq is in the frontline of the war of terrorism ...and it is unfair that the Iraqis are treated in this way.

"We clearly demanded that the Iraqi government deal reciprocally in all issues... with the United States of America," Hassan Shwairid, the deputy head of the committee, told AFP.

On January 27, Trump signed a sweeping executive order to make good on his promisedMuslim Ban.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] US President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (not shown in the picture) in the East Room of the White House, Washington DC, the United States, on January 27, 2017. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]

The new Republican presidents order imposes a 90-day ban on the entry of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia, blocks refugees from Syria indefinitely, and suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days.

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Iraq's popular forces want Americans out

In a related development, the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Shaabi, also urged Iraqi authorities to bar the entrance of Americans intothe country.

After the decision of the American president to prohibit the entry of Iraqi citizens to the United States of America, we demand Americans be prevented from entering Iraq, and the removal of those of them who are present, Hashd al-Shaabi said in a statement.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Soldiers from the pro-government Popular Mobilization Forces, commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Shaabi, wave the victory sign on board a pickup truck, on their way to Tal Afar airport, Iraq, on November 20, 2016. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]

The statement did not clarify whether the demandapplies to the US military personnel already deployed to Iraq or not.

Thousands of American troops are currently in Iraq as part of the so-called US-led coalition against Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

Hashd al-Shaabi fighters joined forces with Iraqi army soldiers and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in a major operationon October 17, 2016 to retake the strategic northern city of Mosul from Daesh extremists.

The pro-government fighters also played a major role in the liberation of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers northwest of the capital, Baghdad, as well as Fallujahcity in the western province of al-Anbaramong many areas in Iraq.

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The reactions to Trump's Muslim ban come amid reports that the Iraqi government plans to lobby the US administration to mitigate the impact of restrictions on Iraqi travelersand preserve cooperation in the anti-Daesh campaign.

On Saturday, protests broke out at major US airports, including Dallas, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles and New York, after border agents began detaining refugees and immigrants arrivingin the country.



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Protesters gather to denounce US President Donald Trump's executive order that bans certain immigration at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas, the United States, on January 28, 2017. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]

Families anxiously waited to learn the fate of their loved ones at terminals, while protesters chanted "Let them in" and "This is What America Looks Like."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also filed a lawsuit, challenging Trumps executive order on behalf of two Iraqiswho were detained at New Yorks John F. Kennedy airport on Friday.

ACLU lawyers successfully argued for a temporary stay, allowing the detained travelers to stay in the country.

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