BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi confirmed Monday to U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller the importance of joint work to implement the withdrawal of foreign forces in accordance with the resolution of the Iraqi parliament.
A statement by his office said that Abdul Mahdi received Tueller in the afternoon and the two reviewed the recent developments and the position of the Iraqi government.
Abdul Mahdi said that the withdrawal of foreign forces is to "put relations with the United States on sound foundations," the statement said.
"Iraq is making every effort to prevent the slide of an open war," the statement added.
The statement came a day after the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in Iraq and prevent them from using Iraqi airspace and waters.
The parliament session came two days after a U.S. drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport which killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces.
Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against IS militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
