Najaf Movement leader warns US forces to leave Iraq by September 30

NAJAF, Iraq — Sheikh Akram Kaabi, secretary-general of Iraq's Najaf Movement, said in a written statement that US President Donald Trump will not achieve in Iraq what he failed to achieve in Iran, and voiced opposition to the continued US military presence in the country. Kaabi said US forces, including ground and air elements, must fully withdraw by September 30. If they do not, the movement will be ready to enter what the statement described as a "decisive war" on the date logged as 9/30, he said. He argued that the resistance has already determined the US's "defeat," and that after the withdrawal deadline no US soldiers would remain in Iraq, adding that any who stayed would not return alive. The Najaf Movement issued the statement in writing to the public.