MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi welcomed the cooperation between the United States and their Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in an interview with television channel CNN.
"I personally am happy that everybody is seeing this danger, so that they [anti-IS coalition] are going to do something about it. And I hope they ... do it right, and they don't do it their own way," Abadi said in Tuesday's interview, adding that he hopes the airstrikes will "degrade and destroy" the militants, as US President Barack Obama has vowed.
Abadi also hailed the decision of several Arab countries to join Washington in its fight against the IS, though mentioning that actions should have been taken sooner.
"We have warned … this is going to end in a bloodbath if nobody stops it. Nobody was listening," he said.
The prime minister noted that the US military sometimes disregard the interests of their Iraqi allies.
"Our forces are moving forward and, when they are moving forward, they need air cover, they need air support. That air support is not forthcoming. We ask for it, but of course the coalition – they have their own ... plan," Abadi said.
Since August, the United States has been carrying out airstrikes in Iraq against the IS, which had seized vast territories across Syria and Iraq. On Tuesday, the United States with the participation of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, used aircraft, drones and Tomahawk missiles to attack IS positions in Syria. The coalition reportedly continued its operation on Wednesday.
