French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Iraq on Saturday to participate in the Baghdad Conference for Co-operation and Partnership. The regional summit was co-organised by France and Baghdad to bring together officials from Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, to ease tensions in the region. It also underscored the Arab country’s new role as a mediator in conflicts.
Macron hailed the Conference as a significant boost for Iraq and its leadership. He also vowed to maintain troops in Iraq “regardless of the Americans’ choices and for as long as the Iraqi government is asking for our support.” Additionally, the French President called the meeting “historic,” as it showcased Iraq’s return to stability following the war with the Islamic State that ended in the latter’s defeat in 2017.
After the Conference, Macron visited a holy Shiite shrine in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya district with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi. Later, the French President flew to the northern city of Erbil, the capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region, where Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani greeted him. Macron also met Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, the 28-year-old activist who was forced into sexual slavery by IS fighters in Iraq and later escaped to find refuge in Germany.
On Sunday, Macron visited Mosul, the northern city of Iraq and the Islamic State’s (IS) former stronghold. Mosul, which served as IS’ bureaucratic and financial hub, was recaptured by international coalition forces in July 2017 after a nine-month battle that left the city in ruins and resulted in thousands of civilian casualties.
During a visit to Mosul’s Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which the IS blew up, Macron said, “IS carried out deadly attacks throughout the world from its self-declared caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. IS did not differentiate between people’s religion and nationality when it came to killing, noting that the extremists killed many Muslims.” He added, “We will do whatever we can, shoulder to shoulder, with the governments of the region and with the Iraqi government to fight against this terrorism. We will be present alongside sovereign governments to restore peace.”
Macron also toured the Our Lady of the Hour Church that was destroyed during the IS rule, where Iraqi priest Raed Adel urged the French President to help reconstruct Mosul’s airport and expressed hope that France would open a consulate in Mosul. In this regard, Macron extended help in rebuilding schools, churches, mosques, and monuments. He also urged Iraq’s religious communities to work together to rebuild the country.
Furthermore, the French President met the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), President Masoud Barzani, who thanked Macron for supporting the region against IS and aiding Iraq’s development efforts. In response, Macron reaffirmed friendship and respect between French and Kurdish people and his country’s commitment to fighting against IS. The duo also discussed the upcoming Iraqi elections and hoped that the polls “will represent a symbol of hope, change, and a way of achieving the people’s will.”
For the past few decades, Iraq has largely been isolated by other Arab nations due to security concerns, wars, and internal unrest, and frequent rocket attacks by insurgents at its airport. Despite their defeat on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, IS sleeper cells continue to carry out terror attacks in both countries. Moreover, an affiliate of the terrorist organisation claimed responsibility for suicide bombings outside the Kabul airport last Thursday that killed almost 200 people, including 13 American soldiers.