- Title: Baghdad residents reject Trump's comments on Iraq's oil reserves
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC ON BUSY STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST SHOPS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BAGHDAD RESIDENT, HASSAN WALHAN, SAYING: "His (U.S. President Donald Trump) comment on oil is an insolent interference on top of previous interferences since the American invasion (of 2003). Neither Trump, nor anyone else, can do the same in Iraq (by invading it) because the Iraqi people are now running their own affairs. We are a sovereign people with dignity and an ancient history and we will defend ourselves." VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BAGHDAD RESIDENT, ALI AL-MOUSSAWI, SAYING: "Trump is currently making terroristic statements in our view. Oil is not the property of America and it is not the property of Trump. It is the property of Iraq and the Iraqis. Trump's statement is nonsense. If Iraqis had been united and if we had a strong national government, he would not have dared to make such a statement." TRAFFIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PEACE ACTIVIST AND BAGHDAD RESIDENT, ABDUL RASSOUL MUHSSIN, SAYING: "Personally I do not know what he meant and (PM Haider) Abadi also said that 'It wasn't clear what he meant'. Did he mean taking possession of Iraq's oil by force or buying it? Frankly we do not know what he meant by this statement. We have oil deals with them. If he meant taking possession of Iraq's oil to develop export and production, we are with him, but if the statement means another thing, we reject it." TRAFFIC
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 11:57
- Keywords: Prime Minister Abadi Oil Trump invasion Middle East
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- City: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00160PX45J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Iraqis dismissed comments by U.S. President Donald Trump as "nonsense" on Thursday (January 26), after he argued that the United States should have taken possession of the nation's crude reserves.
In a speech to CIA officials on Saturday (January 21), Trump suggested that the United States should have taken Iraq's oil in reimbursement for the 2003 invasion that put an end to Saddam Hussein's rule.
Trump also suggested that taking Iraq's oil would have prevented Islamic State from rising up by removing a source of the group's funding, according to a Huffington Post report of the encounter.
"His comment on oil is an insolent interference on top of previous interferences since the American invasion (of 2003). Neither Trump, nor anyone else, can do the same in Iraq (by invading it) because the Iraqi people are now running their own affairs. We are a sovereign people with a dignity and ancient history and we will defend ourselves," said Baghdad resident Hassan Walhan.
For Ali al-Moussawi, he sees Trump's statement as a reflection on the Iraqi government's weakness and lack of unity.
"Trump is currently making terroristic statements in our view. Oil is not the property of America and it is not the property of Trump. It is the property of Iraq and the Iraqis. Trump's statement is nonsense. If Iraqis had been united and if we had a strong national government, he would not have dared to make such a statement," he said.
Commenting on Trump's statement on oil, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday (January 24) that Iraq's oil is the property of Iraqis.
"It wasn't clear what he meant," Abadi told a news conference when asked about Trump's comments. "Did he mean in 2003 or to prevent the terrorists from seizing Iraq's oil?"
"Iraq's oil is constitutionally the property of the Iraqis," he said.
The new U.S. president has also sent messages offering to increase the level of assistance to Iraq, Abadi said, without giving details on the nature of the assistance.
Trump has made the fight against IS, the hardline group that declared a self-styled "caliphate" over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, a priority for his administration.
A U.S.-led coalition is already providing critical support to an offensive by Iraqi forces to take back Mosul, the largest city under control of Islamic State. The United States is also providing financial support to Iraq. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
