Iraq's Abadi 'totally' opposed to Arab airstrikes in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Oct. 1 (UPI) —

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi voiced his opposition to Arab nations participating in U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

In an interview with the BBC, Abadi said he is "totally" opposed to their involvement and noted that Western countries have "filled many gaps" in Iraq’s capacity to fight back against the terror group’s lightning offensive.

Although several Arab countries have joined the 40-nation coalition to counter IS, only the U.S., Britain and France have so far carried out airstrikes inside Iraq.

Abadi discussed his concerns about anti-IS airstrikes during a meeting with reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week.

"I have raised the issue of sovereignty of Iraq," said Abadi of his meetings with U.S. officials on the targeted airstrikes. "We don’t want to happen in Iraq what happened in Yemen and Pakistan," he noted, referring to U.S. drone strikes in those countries.

Any U.S. airstrikes in Iraq would require approval by the Iraqi government, he said.

In addition, Abadi placed constraints on his support for U.S.-led coalition strikes against IS, also referred to in Arabic as Daesh, in neighboring Syria. "As a neighbor, I don’t want to be party to the disintegration of Syria or to have diminished sovereignty of Syria."

"We had a length discussion with our American friends," Abadi told reporters, "and what they emphasized is their aim in Syria is not to destabilize Syria [but] rather to diminish the capability of Daesh."