Quotes from Haider al-Abadi

Our citizens must feel they are part and parcel of this country. This is essential.

Daesh thought it could exploit the vulnerability of the Iraqi state, but it underestimated the overwhelming desire of the Iraqi people for unity.

All border crossings in and out of Iraq must be under the exclusive control of the federal state.

I never think that walls can protect you.

We cannot stop senseless violence without the rule of law and security forces that represent and respect every segment of society.

We cannot afford to fight our neighbor, even if we disagree on many things.

Many of our forces collapsed when Daesh rolled into Iraq.

For us, sovereignty of Syria is very important.

The PMF should be loyal only to Iraq, not to anyone else: loyal to Iraqi official institutions, the commander in chief in the country, rather than political parties or any other force outside or inside Iraq.

The Iraqi people will not allow any country to take possession of their own resources.

2016 is the year of eliminating corruption.

Corrupt people sometimes are smart; some of them are dull, but some of them are very smart. They can hide their corruption tactics.

Our government strives to create an independent and impartial judiciary that applies the law without bias or favoritism. And we are incorporating into our security forces all Iraqis who have taken up arms to defend their families and communities.

The Iranians had to come to the forefront of supporting and helping Iraq fight Daesh with advisers, with other help, logistical support for our armed forces, and we very much welcomed that.

I think Mr. Trump is a pragmatic man; he is a businessman.

People are calling on me to put corrupt people into prison. Where do you start?

I was elected prime minister in 2014 under incredibly difficult circumstances: A third of the country was overrun by terrorists, the economy was struggling, people were divided by sectarianism, and relations with the wider world were strained.

We succeeded in fighting terrorism - we will succeed in reconstruction.

At the end of the day, Iraq was a part of the fight against terrorism.

Iraq is fighting a war against terrorism. We are trying our best to fight them. We are trying our best to fight outlaws in our country.

It's not in our interest, nor in the interest of other countries in the region, for terrorists to regroup again.

If Syria disintegrates, God forbid, the whole area will be under threat.

If you challenge the constitution and if you challenge the borders of Iraq and the borders of the region, this is a public invitation to the countries in the region to violate Iraqi borders as well, which is a very dangerous escalation.

It's very important to follow up after the defeat of Daesh militarily. It's not in our interests, nor in the interests of other countries in the region, for them to regroup again.