Pompeo pays surprise visit to Baghdad for talks with Iraqi leaders

The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday paid a surprise visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad to meet with Iraqi leaders to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and his wife Susan disembark from their aircraft as they arrive in Erbil, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. [Photo: Pool via AP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds]

During the day, Pompeo met with the Iraqi President Barham Salih, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hakim before he left to the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in the north of the country.

A statement by Salih office said that the president discussed with Pompeo the latest developments on the political and security situation in the country and the region.

Salih asserted on the need "to decrease instability in the Arab and regional arenas and to strengthen international and regional cooperation to end extremism and defeat terrorism once and for all," according to the statement.

Salih praised the bilateral relation and confirmed "the need of developing it to achieve the common interests of the two friendly peoples, as well as the importance for the American side to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq," it said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, meets with Iraqi President Barham Salih, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019. [Photo: Pool via AP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds]

For his part, Pompeo confirmed that "Iraq is an important strategic partner to the U.S. in political, economic and security fields," the statement said.

He also expressed his country's readiness to "invest and contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq, especially its liberated cities."

Later on, another statement by Abdul Mahdi's office said that the premier received Pompeo and his accompanying delegation in Abdul Mahdi's office in the Green Zone and the two sides shed light on the importance of Iraqi-U.S. relations in the war against Daesh terrorist organization.

The two sides also discussed "the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, as the U.S. Secretary of State said that his country is determined to implement this resolution gradually and systematically, in cooperation and coordination with Iraq," the statement said.

Pompeo also met with U.S. troops during his surprise visit to Iraq, according to media reports without giving further details.

Later in the day, Kurdish media reports said that Pompeo flew to the city of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan region, where he held separate meeting with senior Kurdish leaders, including Masoud Barzani, head of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, and Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Masrour Barzani.

Pompeo's visit to Baghdad is part of his tour in some Middle East countries, in which he is scheduled to reassure allies about the U.S. commitment to the region.

On Dec. 26, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to Iraq accompanied by his wife Melania.

They landed at the al-Assad air base in Iraq's western province of Anbar to celebrate Christmas with U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Trump's visit ignited resentment among Iraqi political blocs despite an Iraqi prime minister's statement that Baghdad had been informed of the visit.

Recently, Trump declared a plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria, citing full defeat of the Islamic State (IS) militants in the country.

The troops were part of a U.S.-led coalition which has been fighting and conducting airstrikes against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.

The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.