Obama extends Iraq emergency status

WASHINGTON- US President Barack Obama on Friday signed an Executive Order to extend the national emergency with respect to Iraq for one year, due to the ongoing and unstable security situation in that country, he said.

The Executive Order was first signed on May 22, 2003 by former President George W. Bush “to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by obstacles to the continued reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions” there.

In his letter to Congress, Obama said the threats and obstacles have not changed, deeming it necessary to extend the national emergency status with respect to Iraq.-KUNA