AP: "BREAKING: Iraqi prime minister asks....>

MIDEAST: AP: "BREAKING: Iraqi prime minister asks U.S. secretary of state to

decide the mechanism for American troop withdrawal from Iraq."

- On 5 Jan, the Iraqi parliament voted to oblige the gov't to "work towards

ending the presence of all foreign troops on Iraqi soil" in the wake of the

airstrike on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport. 

- The statement from caretaker PM Ade Abdul-Mahdi requests Sec of State Mike

Pompeo to send a delegation to Iraq to decide on how US troops should withdraw

from the country. 

- This marks a further sign of a breakdown in relations between Baghdad and

Washington D.C., given that it was initially unclear whether the Iraqi gov't

would be bound by the parliament's vote. 

- US President Trump has threatened to "charge them [Iraq] sanctions like

they've never seen before" if US troops do not leave on a "very friendly basis".