Baghdad rocked as McCain, Cheney visit Iraq
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
BAGHDAD, Mar 17 (AP): Explosions rocked Iraq's capital Monday as Vice President Dick Cheney and Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain visited ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion.
Helicopter gunships circled over central Baghdad and the heavily fortified Green Zone, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.
McCain, the Republican party's likely presidential nominee who has linked his political future to US military success in Iraq, met Monday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began talks with Cheney.
The Arizona senator stressed the importance of a US commitment to Iraq and warned a US-Iraqi military operation to clear al-Qaida from its last urban stronghold of Mosul will be "very difficult and very important."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
McCain said he and Iraqi government officials had reviewed the security situation in Baghdad, although more details were not available.
Cheney landed at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter for talks with US and Iraqi officials. It is Cheney's third vice presidential trip to Iraq where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the US death toll is nearing 4,000.
The US Embassy in Baghdad said it could not confirm reports of a rocket attack on the Green Zone after Cheney's arrival. "I'm not aware of any," embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said.
Violence has dropped throughout the capital with an influx of some 30,000 additional US soldiers as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The US military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 per cent since last February.
McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh Sunday and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, the US Embassy said. Further details of the visit were not released for security reasons, the embassy said.
Helicopter gunships circled over central Baghdad and the heavily fortified Green Zone, but no details were immediately available on the cause of the explosions.
McCain, the Republican party's likely presidential nominee who has linked his political future to US military success in Iraq, met Monday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shortly before the Iraqi leader began talks with Cheney.
The Arizona senator stressed the importance of a US commitment to Iraq and warned a US-Iraqi military operation to clear al-Qaida from its last urban stronghold of Mosul will be "very difficult and very important."
McCain, who arrived in Iraq Sunday, told reporters that he also discussed with the Shiite leader the need for progress on political reforms, including laws on holding provincial elections and the equitable distribution of Iraq's oil riches.
McCain said he and Iraqi government officials had reviewed the security situation in Baghdad, although more details were not available.
Cheney landed at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter for talks with US and Iraqi officials. It is Cheney's third vice presidential trip to Iraq where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the US death toll is nearing 4,000.
The US Embassy in Baghdad said it could not confirm reports of a rocket attack on the Green Zone after Cheney's arrival. "I'm not aware of any," embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said.
Violence has dropped throughout the capital with an influx of some 30,000 additional US soldiers as well as a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and a cease-fire by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The US military has said attacks have fallen by about 60 per cent since last February.
McCain met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh Sunday and planned to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, the US Embassy said. Further details of the visit were not released for security reasons, the embassy said.