(Bloomberg) --
Germany has temporarily moved some troops from
Iraq due to safety concerns following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general.Of Germany’s 120 soldiers in Iraq as part of a training mission, 32 have transferred to Jordan and three to Kuwait, Defense Ministry Spokesman Joerg Schroeder said Tuesday by phone. The troops could return anytime to continue the mission if the Iraqi government agrees, although it has been suspended for the time being, Schroeder said.The U.S.-led coalition to defeat
Islamic State said Sunday it was suspending operations in Iraq to temporarily focus efforts on protecting its forces. Iraq’s prime minister has recommended the “urgent” withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.“Of course we must be particularly attentive that our soldiers, and those of other nations, are not exposed to unnecessary risks,“ Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in the afternoon at an event of the CSU party in Bavaria. All diplomatic channels must be used to de-escalate the situation, and allies are in agreement that the anti-ISIS mission must continue, the minister said. Tensions between the U.S. and
Iran are high after last week’s killing of General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport, and the
Pentagon has sent additional forces to the Middle East.A senior lawmaker in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party said earlier on Tuesday it would be dangerous for international troops to leave Iraq, which would risk becoming a “vassal state” of Iran.“Of course, if the Iraqi government decides that all foreign troops should withdraw, it would affect the training mission and have grave consequences for the fight against IS,” CDU lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio.“We would be well advised to make it clear to the Iraqi government what it would mean if 67 states withdrew from the whole region,” he added.(Updates with defense minister comment in fourth paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Rogers in
Berlin at irogers11@bloomberg.net;Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Patrick Donahue in Seeon, Germany at pdonahue1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman, Raymond ColittFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.