Brown meets al-Maliki to assess progress

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BAGHDAD, July 19 (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived in Baghdad Saturday and quickly went into talks with his Iraqi counterpart to assess the progress made in security and political stability in the war-torn country.

Brown held nearly an hour long meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone after which he went into a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Details of his meeting with Maliki were not immediately known, an AFP correspondent travelling with Brown said.

A spokesman for the British leader said the "key aim (of the visit) is to speak to both the troops on the ground and the Iraqi leaders ahead of a statement to parliament next week."

The British premier wants an update on the four key stages he sees as being crucial to the development of Iraq, particularly in the southern region around Basra where Britain's 4,000 troops are based, the spokesman said.

Those four stages are the training of Iraqi troops by British forces, political stability, economic investment in Basra and the eventual opening up of Basra airport to wider civilian use.

The spokesman said the main issue on troops would be "what more we can do to train the Iraqi 14th Division" of the army.