 Iraq PM hopes for continued US support after Trump win Baghdad (AFP) Nov 9, 2016 - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated Donald Trump Wednesday on his election as president and said he hoped for continued US and international support in the war against jihadists. Trump, who won a surprise victory over Hillary Clinton, has repeatedly vilified Muslims and also made remarks during the campaign that raised questions about his support for US security commitments in places including the Middle East. Abadi congratulates Trump "on the occasion of his victory in the American presidential election," a statement from the premier's office said. "We look forward to the continued support of the world and the United States in standing with Iraq in its confrontation with terrorism," Abadi said. Iraqi President Fuad Masum, parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi and leaders of the country's autonomous Kurdish region also offered congratulations on Trump's win. The Islamic State group overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since regained much of the territory they lost. They are now fighting to retake Mosul, the last IS-held city in the country. Trump's proposals for dealing with IS have included killing the families of jihadists and employing torture techniques such as waterboarding. He has also said that the United States should have stolen Iraqi oil to pay for the nearly nine-year war that began with its overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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Poland's president urged US President-elect Donald Trump to keep Washington's promise to deploy troops on NATO's eastern flank amid tensions with Russia.
"Polish-American relations have become an important pillar of the European and transatlantic stability," Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a letter of congratulations.
"We are particularly pleased that during this year's NATO Summit in Warsaw the US decided to increase its military presence in Poland, thereby strengthening the Alliance's Eastern flank.
"We sincerely hope that your leadership will open new opportunities for our cooperation based on mutual commitment."
Trump, a real estate mogul-cum-reality TV star, sparked ire in July among eastern NATO members ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era when he questioned the alliance's key collective security guarantee.
As part of that commitment, NATO leaders endorsed plans this summer to rotate troops into Poland and the three Baltic states to reassure them they would not be left in the lurch if Russia was tempted to repeat its 2014 Ukraine intervention.
The US-led battalion that will begin operations next year in Poland will be stationed near the border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.
The US also said in March it would deploy an additional armoured brigade of about 4,200 troops in eastern Europe from early 2017 on a rotational basis.
Moscow has stepped up its presence in the Baltic Sea area. Its jets regularly violate the airspace of smaller ex-Soviet NATO allies like Estonia and in April they even buzzed a US naval destroyer.
Last month Poland criticised Moscow's deployment of nuclear-capable Iskander missiles into its Kaliningrad outpost that borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
It also denounced as "aggressive and irresponsible" Russia's subsequent deployment of two warships in the Baltic Sea capable of launching long-range nuclear warheads.
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