Masoud Barzani: 'We are prepared to recover Mosul very quickly'
- 9 years ago
Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, spoke to FRANCE 24's Marc Perelman. He discussed the situation in Iraq and the recent advances by the militant Islamic State group.
Masoud Barzani expressed his "surprise" at the fall of Ramadi to the Islamic State group. "An investigation must be carried out by the Iraqi army to find out what happened", he says.
However, concerning Mosul, which fell to the jihadists almost a year ago, he says "we are prepared to recover Mosul very quickly to liberate it from ISIS (the Islamic State group). The city of Mosul must not wait for its liberation for too long". Barzani expressed confidence that "with time, ISIS will lose to the pershmerga".
He thanked the US-led coalition for its air strikes but says "we still do not have all the weapons that can protect the peshmerga and enable us to win".
Finally, he ruled out the idea of Western boots on the ground. "America and Europe cannot fight in Syria and Iraq, it would not be logical".
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Masoud Barzani expressed his "surprise" at the fall of Ramadi to the Islamic State group. "An investigation must be carried out by the Iraqi army to find out what happened", he says.
However, concerning Mosul, which fell to the jihadists almost a year ago, he says "we are prepared to recover Mosul very quickly to liberate it from ISIS (the Islamic State group). The city of Mosul must not wait for its liberation for too long". Barzani expressed confidence that "with time, ISIS will lose to the pershmerga".
He thanked the US-led coalition for its air strikes but says "we still do not have all the weapons that can protect the peshmerga and enable us to win".
Finally, he ruled out the idea of Western boots on the ground. "America and Europe cannot fight in Syria and Iraq, it would not be logical".
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