Washington welcomes ‘apparent consensus’ on forming Iraq govt, Pompeo says

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that the US welcomes an apparent agreement among Iraq’s Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups to form a new government.

He added that it would need to be capable of confronting the coronavirus pandemic, helping the economy and bringing arms under control, Reuters reports.

“We welcome that Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish political leaders seem to have arrived at a consensus on government formation, and hope the new government puts Iraq’s interests first and meets the needs of the Iraqi people,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Iraq’s designated Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who was named by president Barham Salih on Thursday, also said that the key objectives for his government will be to fight corruption and return displaced people back home.