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| Iraq | |
| Maliki to visit US as violence continues in Iraq | |
| 2009-07-07 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is to visit the United States July 21, one of his advisers told AFP on Sunday, in a trip aimed at bolstering non-military cooperation amid a recent spat of violence in Mosul. Maliki will meet United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York as well as President Barack Obama in Washington," said Yassin Majid, announcing the start of the visit of several days.
Biden has repeatedly voiced concern about lingering feuds between Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities being a roadblock to political progress. However, the Iraqi government refused a U.S. offer to intervene, describing the national reconciliation process as an internal matter and warning that outside interference could cause additional problems. Maliki said on Friday that a June 30 U.S. troop pullback from Iraqi towns and cities signaled that the two countries had "entered a new phase." "We will work during the next visit to the United States to push forward bilateral relations in various areas" and to work to remove sanctions imposed during the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, Maliki said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |