BAGHDAD, Jan  27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Iraq and the United States on Saturday 
held a first round of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops 
in the country, with Baghdad expecting discussions to lead to a timeline for 
reducing their presence.
       Roughly 2,500 US troops are still deployed in Iraq as part of the 
anti-Islamic State group international coalition formed in 2014 -- the year the 
jihadist group overran swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.
       But after the Israel-Hamas war began in October US-led coalition forces in 
Iraq and Syria have faced frequent attacks by Iran-aligned groups, leading to 
US retaliatory strikes and Iraqi complaints of American "aggression" against 
its territory. 
       The volatile situation has pushed Iraq's prime minister -- whose government 
relies on the support of Iran-aligned parties -- to call for the coalition to 
leave, although talks between the two sides had been planned since August.
       The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani issued a photograph of 
him with top-ranking officials from both the Iraqi armed forces and the US-led 
coalition.
       Their joint commission "started its work today, in Baghdad, to review the 
mission of the Global Coalition against Daesh," Sudani's office said in a 
statement, using an Arabic acronym for IS.  
       "Military experts will oversee ending the military mission of the Global 
Coalition against Daesh, a decade after its initiation and after its successful 
achievement of its mission in partnership with Iraqi security and military 
forces."
       Sudani's foreign affairs adviser, Farhad Alaaldin, told AFP that the talks 
"and whatever progress made will determine the length of these negotiations. 
       "Iraq is engaging the other countries taking part in the international 
coalition for bilateral agreements that serves the best interest of Iraq and 
these countries," Alaaldin said.
       
       - 'Clear timeline' -
    
       
       The US-led coalition said in a statement that Saturday's meeting was part 
of the process to "assess progress in the coalition's primary Defeat-Daesh 
mission, as well as discuss future adjustments to the coalition's mission and 
presence in Iraq".
       The joint military commission "will work to set the conditions to 
transition the mission in Iraq", it added.
       On Thursday, Washington had said it agreed with Baghdad on the launch of 
"expert working groups of military and defence professionals" as part of the 
joint commission set up in agreement with Baghdad.
       The three working groups would examine "the level of threat posed by ISIS, 
operational and environmental requirements, and strengthening the growing 
capabilities of the Iraqi security forces," Sudani's office said. 
       US Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh had acknowledged that the 
US military footprint in Iraq "will certainly be part of the conversations as 
it goes forward".
       Iraq's foreign ministry sees the eventual formulation of "a specific and 
clear timeline... and to begin the gradual reduction of its (the coalition's) 
advisers on Iraqi soil".
       There have been more than 150 attacks targeting coalition troops since 
mid-October, many of them claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose 
alliance of Iran-linked groups that oppose US support for Israel in its war 
with Hamas in Gaza.
       In 2014 IS declared a "caliphate" which they ruled with brutality before 
their defeat in Iraq in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by the US-led 
coalition. However, jihadist cells still stage sporadic attacks on the army and 
police.