Iraqi PM to outline plan for retaking Ramadi: US official

Iraq's plan to recapture the western city of Ramadi from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadists will dominate a meeting June 2 in Paris of foreign ministers from the international coalition fighting the group, a senior US official said.

In the wake of the stunning defeat in Ramadi this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi will outline how his government intends to retake it and what coalition partners can do to help, a senior State Department official told reporters.    

"This is not a business-as-usual meeting," said the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity by teleconference.
 
"We're coming to discuss with Prime Minister Abadi his plan for liberating Ramadi and Anbar province."    

Under a campaign plan adopted by Abadi's cabinet shortly after Ramadi's fall, the Iraqis hope to mobilize the Sunni tribes of Anbar province, deploy police units under new leadership, channel reconstruction aid quickly to recaptured areas and ensure all Shiite militias are operating under Baghdad's authority, the official said.
 
The disastrous rout of Iraqi security forces led Baghdad to ask the Hashed al-Shaabi, an umbrella organisation which includes Iran-backed Shiite militias, to move into the area to block the advance of the ISIL extremists.
 
But Washington remains concerned about any role for the Tehran-backed fighters in the mostly Sunni area, and officials said June 1 the Iraqi government's campaign plan places a top priority on imposing Baghdad's authority over all militia units.
 
"It's very important ... that all forces be brought under the command and control of the Iraqi government and the Iraqi prime minister. That's something that's a fundamental element of the plan,...