ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on nationals of seven countries could only be described as betrayal, says Iraq’s former ambassador to Washington Lukman Faily, who is now barred from entering the United States as an Iraqi citizen.
"I think I would use the word betrayal," Faily told AFP.
Faily who was Iraq’s top envoy to the US from 2013 to 2016 said: "I confirmed with the US embassy here in Baghdad that I am banned as well.”
Trump’s executive order last week banned most entries into the US by Iraqi nationals for 90 days with the few exceptions being current diplomats, NATO and United Nations representatives.
Faily said on Monday that Iraq and the United States have been partners against terrorism and that Iraq is not “exporting terrorists.”
He criticized the travel ban saying it “does not reflect reliability” and he believes it “will reflect to the Iraqi people that the US is unjustly treating them,” the Press TV news agency reported.
"At this moment I cannot say that I have confidence in the US decision-making process in relation to what... they want Iraq to be," he stressed.
When Faily resigned as ambassador and left the Iraqi Foreign Service in July 2016, he expressed a desire to look for a new challenge and explore other opportunities, while continuing to work in other ways to strengthen relations between Iraq and the United States.
“It is now time to move on and to reflect back on this three wonderful years, time did pass incredibly fast but important progress on bilateral relationship has been made, I pray for more to follow,” Faily wrote on the embassy’s website.
He described his time in America as memorable.
“My wife Lameis, my four boys and I enjoyed our time here in Washington DC and we will miss it for sure,” he added. “We will cherish the many beautiful memories we have encountered during our short stay. The American people are generous, gracious and fair.”
