Macron in Iraq to meet “Iraqi diversity”, on the ruins of Daesh – The HuffPost

AFP

INTERNATIONAL – It’s a long trip that will last all weekend. Emmanuel Macron goes to Iraq this Friday, August 27 in the evening for two days to meet all the components of Iraqi society, almost a year, day to day, after his last trip September 2, 2020.

“The President of the Republic attaches great importance to Iraq, a pivotal and pivotal state, in particular concerning the stability of the Middle East”, Explained the Elysee, a few days before his departure. Throughout his visit, the president will be keen to “mark France’s commitment to strengthening the fight against terrorism, to the country’s economic development and to its stabilization”.

Discussions with influencers from Mosul

After talks on Saturday morning August 28 in Baghdad with Iraqi President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Moustafa al-Kazimi, the head of state will participate in a conference with several countries in the region, co-organized with the Iraq, without Syria which is not invited. “For all the participants, it will be a question of showing their support for the pivotal role of Iraq and of contributing to the reduction of regional tensions by promoting dialogue”, specifies the Élysée.

Sunday August 29, the president goes to Mosul, in the north of the country, territory formerly held by the territorial caliphate of Daesh. “The objective is to exchange views with the local population and provide France’s support for stabilization and reconstruction operations in this area,” explains the Palace. Emmanuel Macron will meet students and influencers on the spot who “have built part of their youth under Daesh and who are building their future”.

“Optimal” travel in terms of the president’s safety

“Even if the territorial caliphate has been destroyed, Daesh and terrorism in general remain a threat,” recalls the Elysee, which promises an “optimal” trip in terms of the security of the president on the spot. Emmanuel Macron will go to the ruins of the Sunni mosque Al-Nouri, where the “Islamic State” was proclaimed in 2014, a symbolic site of the fight against Daesh, now under construction after its destruction.

Another highlight of the trip, the meeting with the Kurds who fought against the caliphate and “French elements of the army who lead a daily struggle against Daesh”, explains the Palace, without saying more for reasons of national defense. “This fight continues, it is a question of avoiding a resurgence”, adds the Élysée.

Meeting of all religious communities

The French president will visit the family of Hujam Surchi, a peshmerga imprisoned and executed by Daesh to whom he will pay homage. Emmanuel Macron will also meet Massoud Barzani, former president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan and “symbol of the Kurdish fighters”. It will be a question of demonstrating “France’s attachment to Kurdistan, in all fields”.

The essayist Caroline Fourest, director of a film on the Kurdish combatants “that the president saw” will be in the official delegation, “at the request of the President of the Republic”. He will also be accompanied by the co-winner of the Nobel Prize, Nadia Murad, tortured by Daesh and from the Yazidi community.

The president will take care to meet “Iraqi diversity”, with several stages in the religious communities that make up the country. Saturday August 28, he will go to the Shiite shrine of Kadhinya, “place of prayer and exchanges”. He will also meet representatives of Eastern Christians to tell them about their “attachment” and will be received at Notre-Dame de l’Heure, in Mosul, a place of Catholic worship. Archbishop Pacal Gollnisch, director general of the Oeuvre d’Orient which supports this community, is part of the official delegation.

The situation in Afghanistan will be evoked by the various parties present, but is not “the focal point” of the regional conference nor of the president’s trip.

See also on The HuffPost: In Iraq, Pope celebrates mass at ruins of church bombed by IS