Plummeting oil prices could damage Iraq's capacity to fight IS: Iraqi PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned here Thursday that the falling oil prices could undermine his country's capacity to fight against the Islamic State (IS).

"You know oil prices have dropped to about 40 percent of their level last year. Iraqi economy and budget relies 85 percent on oil, and this has been disastrous for us," al-Abadi said after an international counter-IS meeting in London.

"We don't want to see a reverse of our military victory due to our budget and fiscal problems, and we have been assured that every member of this coalition will stand with Iraq in its fight against Daesh (IS)," he told a press conference following the meeting.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry co-chaired a Counter-IS Coalition Small Group Meeting in London Thursday. Up to 21 members of the global coalition attended the meeting to review and discuss efforts to fight against the IS.

Asked about what concrete steps had been agreed on at the meeting, the Iraqi prime minister said he wanted "deferred payment" for the delivery of munition and armaments, and the coalition partners have been "very receptive" of the request.

"I've asked before for more support, and I think my call didn't go unnoticed," he noted.

Kerry, on his part, said the momentum of the IS has been halted or reversed in Iraq, with about 50 percent of top IS commanders being eliminated.

He added that almost 2,000 strikes in Syria and Iraq had been carried out by the coalition with "a high degree of precision and accuracy," putting the IS on the defensive side.

"Daesh (IS) is a global problem, and it demands a coordinated, comprehensive, and enduring global response. And that's what we came here to talk about today," he told the press conference.

The U.S. top diplomat commended the coalition partners' "vital contributions" in terms of sheltering refugees, training and advising Iraqi troops on the front lines, and speaking out against the hateful, false ideology of the IS.

Stressing that fighting againt IS was "a huge task with no shortcuts," he called for more coordination of the coalition's efforts.

"We want to ensure that we are synchronized, that we are unified, that we are effective, that we are able to carry out each line of effort as rapidly and as efficiently as possible," he urged.

Hammond said the meeting discussed efforts to defeat the IS not only through military force, but also "by addressing the underlying narrative of the organization, its financing, its flow of foreign fighters, and by reasserting our commitment to Iraq." Endit