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BAGHDAD, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Friday that the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump pledged to provide "strong and firm" support to the Iraqi government.
"You are key partners to us and will find strong and firm support," a statement from Abadi's office quoted Trump as saying during an evening phone call between the two leaders.
The statement said that Trump sent his congratulations to Iraq over its latest victories against Islamic State (IS) militants.
The president-elect also invited Abadi to visit Washington shortly after the January inauguration, according to the statement.
They reviewed the victories of the Iraqi forces in their fight against IS, stressing the importance of mobilizing all efforts to root out the ideology of terrorism, it said.
On Nov. 9, Republican Donald Trump defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton to become the 45th president of the United States.
Leading a coalition of more than 60 countries, the United States has been using airstrikes to fight IS militants in Syria and Iraq.
Moreover, hundreds of U.S. military personnel are now deployed in Iraq to provide support to the government forces in battles to drive out IS militants from the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the capital Baghdad.
