US forces withdrawal from Iraq: New round of negotiations between Washington and Baghdad

Report by Ahmad Abdallah, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Washington and Baghdad sit at the same table for a new round of negotiations on the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq.

The first round, which began late last month, was quickly suspended on the same day after attacks targeted the US base, Tower 22, in Jordan, claiming the lives of three American soldiers.

Washington attributed the attack to Iraqi resistance factions.

The Sunday negotiations come amid increasing calls for the departure of coalition forces from Iraq, both from Iraqi factions and even from the government, especially as the intensity of attacks between Iraqi resistance and coalition forces, particularly Americans, escalates.

The latest was the assassination of Kata'ib Hezbollah Iraqi leader Abu Baqir al-Saadi in Baghdad, which the Iraqi presidency considered a threat to the success of the ongoing negotiations, emphasizing in a statement that violence only begets violence and exacerbation.

While the Shia and Kurdish leadership of Iraq agreed, opposition came from Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers who were absent from a session of the Iraqi parliament on Saturday dedicated to discussing legislation to expel US forces from the country.

Apart from Kurdish and Sunni opposition, these talks differ from the rest.

In the first round, several factions within the Iraqi Islamic resistance announced the suspension of their military operations against US forces to avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government.

However, today, these negotiations resume a day after the resistance called on its supporters to join the fighting ranks to expel the occupiers, as stated in the statement.

Will the escalation hinder the negotiations and return them to stagnation?