Court rejects lawsuit seeking to expel US forces from Iraq

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court (FSC) rejected a lawsuit filed by two members of the Council of Representatives (the Parliament) seeking to expel US forces from Iraq. The FSC stated on their website that they had dismissed the lawsuit against the President and the Prime Minister of Iraq, filed by parliament members Basem Khazaal and Mustafa Habbar, due to lack of jurisdiction. The lawsuit included a demand seeking to invalidate the defendants' approval to allow American forces to stay in Iraq, and for US forces to restore the areas and facilities that they were exploiting, and compensation for the damages caused by their operations from 2009 until the facilities were handed over to the Iraqi government. This is the first lawsuit of its kind filed against the presence of US forces who are leading the international coalition to fight the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq. Source: Kuwait News Agency