ERBIL - The leader of a key component of the pro-Iranian Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq said on Monday that he expects the Council of Representatives to pass a law calling for the pullout of the US troops from Iraq, arguing that the foreign forces have no more excuses to stay while the war against the Islamic State (IS) has ended.

"I think more than half of the members of parliament reject the presence of American military forces as a matter of principle," al-Khazali said, as quoted by Associated Press.

The Shi'ite leader further pointed out that Iraq could use force if the US does not solve the issue politically.

"If the United States wants to impose its presence by force, and to bypass the Iraqi constitution and parliament, Iraq can treat it the same way and drive it out by force... But the first phase is political," he said.