Iraq steps up anti-ISIS coordination with Iran, Syria, Russia

BAGHDAD, Iraq (UPDATED) – Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria have agreed to set up an intelligence committee in Baghdad, a spokesman said Sunday, September 27, a further sign of Moscow’s growing role in the region’s conflict.

Iraq welcomed the creation of the new cell as a chance to help harmonize often competing efforts in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.

“It’s a committee coordinating between the 4 countries, with representatives of each country, in the field of military intelligence and aimed at sharing and analyzing information,” Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office, told Agence France-Presse.

He said the cell would focus on “monitoring the movements of terrorists… and degrading their capacity.”

A statement from Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said the deal with Moscow comes amid “growing concern over the presence of thousands of Russian terrorists engaged in criminal acts with Daesh (IS).”

Russia’s Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev earlier this September estimated that 1,800 Russian citizens are fighting for IS, while reports have suggested Moscow is deliberately letting militants take their jihad (holy war) away from its own borders.

Hadithi would not say whether the new cell had already begun its work.

A Russian “military-diplomatic source” quoted by Russian news agencies said the center in Baghdad would be managed on a rotational basis, with Iraq taking the lead for the first 3 months. – Salam Faraj, AFP/Rappler.com