PM says Iraq must end foreign troop presence as soon as possible

FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi speaks during a symbolic funeral ceremony of Major General Ali al-Lami, who commands the Iraqi Federal Police's Fourth Division, who was killed in Salahuddin, in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged parliament on Sunday to take urgent measures and end the foreign troop presence as soon as possible.

"Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically," Abdul Mahdi told parliament in a speech.

The Iraqi parliament is holding an extraordinary session that lawmakers said they would use to push for a vote on a resolution requiring the end of the presence of foreign troops.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Ahmed Aboulenein, and Maha El Dahan; Editing by Alison Williams)