Iraq: Saudi Arabia increasing Yemen chaos

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday argued that Saudi Arabia’s U.S.-backed military campaign in Yemen was increasing the chaos there.

Al-Abadi charged that Saudi airstrikes were only drawing more nations into Yemen’s volatile civil war. The foreign dignitary’s remarks followed his first official White House visit on Tuesday.

{mosads}“This is an intense conflict,” al-Abadi told host Charlie Rose on CBS’s “Good Morning.”

“It doesn’t help if you start bombarding that country,” he continued.

“Does it reduce the regional involvement in the country or increase it?” al-Abadi asked. “It’s quite obvious it’ll increase it.”

The Iraqi leader added that he believed the Saudi strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen would only further inflame regional tensions in the Middle East. The Houthis are Shiite Muslims, a fact that worries Sunni Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia.

“Not at all,” al-Abadi told Rose when asked if he believed Riyadh’s bombing raids had worsened Yemen’s civil strife.

“Yes, I agree, they shouldn’t,” he added of whether or not they should continue their campaign.

Al-Abadi additionally said his nation remains plagued by its own internal violence. He said Iraq was still fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on its own, without the aid of foreign militaries.

“We’re not getting support from any country, whether the international coalition or Iran, in terms of soldiers fighting on the ground against Daesh with the Iraqis,” he said, using an alternative name for the terrorist organization.

“We are getting support in terms of intelligence, in terms of advisers, in terms of training and weapons,” he said. “Only Iraqis are fighting on the ground.”

Al-Abadi’s remarks refuted claims that Iran has aided Shiite militias operating in Iraq. Iran was only serving alongside the Iraqi military in an advisory role, he added.

“Now, I have to be clear on this, if they’re giving advice, if they’re making militias in Iraq as their proxies, we’d consider this as hostile to Iraq,” al-Abadi vowed.

Al-Abadi visited Washington, D.C., from Tuesday to Friday. On Thursday, the foreign dignitary criticized U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in his country as too slow.

“Bombing missions must be quicker,” he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.