No need of foreign troops to fight IS, says Iraq

The Iraqi government asks foreign counties for military support, including equipment and training of security forces, but the country does not want foreign troops in its territory to fight the Sunni radical group Islamic State (IS), Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in the Turkish capital Ankara Thursday.

"Only Iraqi people will fight in territory of Iraq," al-Jaafari, who is paying a visit to Turkey, said at a conference in the International Strategic Research Organisation here, Xinhua reported.

The Iraqi government also asked Turkey for support in equipment and training of the Iraqi army, the minister said, after his meetings with Turkish leaders in the capital.

Al-Jaafari called the international community for more humanitarian support to the Iraqis who fled the jihadists, and demanded help for restructuring the regions that were destroyed during clashes with IS militants.

The new Iraqi government is "inclusive and representing all factions in Iraq", al-Jaafari said, noting Sunni groups would also be represented in Iraqi politics.

The foreign minister said Kurdish oil export to world markets should be conducted in line with Iraqi constitution, and Iraqi Kurds, therefore, should take their share through Baghdad.

Ties between Turkey and Iraq have strained in recent years due to oil agreements signed by Turkey with the Kurdish autonomous administration in northern Iraq, without the consent of the central Iraqi government. The relations further drew tight after Turkey gave refuge to fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.