Abadi

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is to visit Turkey and Iran next week, an official said on Aug. 11.

This file photo show Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım (L) with his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi during a joint press conference in Baghdad on Jan 7. / AA Photo

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has issued a decree formalizing the inclusion of Shi’ite paramilitary groups in the country’s security forces.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım spoke with his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi over the phone on Jan. 15, according to a Turkish Prime Ministry source.

Iraq remains committed to continuing its cooperation in various areas with Turkey, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Jan. 9.

Iraq has declared victory over Islamic State (IS) militants, saying the last remnants of the extremist group have been driven from the country three years after it captured large swaths of Iraqi territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said on December 9 that that Iraq has "completely liberated" the country.

British Prime Minister Theresa May paid a surprise visit on Nov. 29 to Baghdad where she met her Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi, his office said.

Capital punishment has been decreasing in Iran in recent years. The Iranian parliament is working on an amendment to the death sentence on drug traffickers, which will decrease 70 percent of executions for drug offenses, the Iranian High Council for Human Rights Deputy Chairman Kazem Gharib Abadi said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has declined Turkey's offer to participate in the battle against the terrorist group Islamic State in Mosul, reported Reuters.

"I know that Turkey wants to participate and we thank them, but this is something that Iraqis can deal with," stated al-Abadi after his meeting with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter in Baghdad on Saturday.

More followers of an influential Iraqi Shiite cleric have joined a rally in central Baghdad to press lawmakers to vote on a Cabinet shakeup proposed by the prime minister.
     
Police have cordoned off a downtown square with razor wire and concrete blocks after hundreds of Muqtada al-Sadr's supporters on April 17 erected camping tents for what's expected to be a long sit-in.