Abadi's office renews the denial of a relationship between the prime minister's visit to France and the referendum



The media office of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi denied on Thursday the link of the latter's visit to France with a referendum on the secession of northern Iraq, pointing out that the call for the visit preceded the referendum by about a month and aims to conclude agreements on security, military, economic and investment cooperation.

"The official French invitation to Prime Minister Haider Abadi preceded the referendum on the secession of northern Iraq and was not devoted to discussing the referendum," spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement.

He added that "France stressed the support of the unity of the country and match the positions on the referendum during the contact of Emmanuel Makron Abadi several days ago," noting that "Abadi's visit will be devoted to discuss political relations between the two countries and strengthen security cooperation, economic and military and the conclusion of agreements of understanding with France on combating terrorism."

Al-Hadithi pointed out that "the government delegation will discuss with the major French companies to invest projects in Iraq and transfer their expertise as well as contribute to the reconstruction of liberated areas."

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