Baghdad - US Vice President Joe Biden said that he was
'optimistic' about Iraq's prospects for stability and security, as he
met with US and Iraqi officials in Baghdad Friday.
Biden met first with the commander of US forces in Iraq, Ray
Odierno, whose forces withdrew from Iraqi cities as planned on June
30.
'I am optimistic,' Biden said. 'I think the Iraqis have become
invested in their nationhood ... I think they've become invested in
the idea that they want to run their own lives, that they want to be
in charge.'
Biden, who previously chaired the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, has visited Iraq several times. But this surprise trip,
which began Thursday, is the first since his inauguration as vice
president.
Biden said his visit is to help him reestablish contact with Iraqi
leaders, and to foster a climate of political reconciliation.
US President Barack Obama recently asked Biden to be his 'point
man' inside the White House on Iraq policy, the vice president told
reporters accompanying him as he landed in Baghdad.
Biden is also due meet with President Jalal Talabani, Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other officials to nudge along
negotiations on long-term stability in Iraq.
Biden, who said this trip will be the first of several to the
region as vice president, also plans to celebrate the Fourth of July
holiday with troops stationed there.
Obama and his generals are publicly optimistic that Iraqi forces
are capable of handling security challenges, despite the recent spate
of violence, but have expressed deeper concerns about the lack of
progress by Iraqi leaders in tackling a host of thorny issues.
The Iraqi government is still struggling to overcome differences
between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds over how to share oil revenue and
how much power Baghdad should share with provincial governments -
issues that are considered essential to alleviating the tension
between the groups.
An Iraqi lawmaker described Friday Biden's visit to Iraq as a
message from Washington that it is still interested in Iraq.
'Biden's visit reflects the US administration's interest in the
political situation in Iraq,' Iraqi lawmaker Abbas al-Bayati told the
German Press Agency dpa.
However Bayati added 'we need confirmation from the US
administration that they will abide by the security agreement,
especially the full withdrawal from Iraq on the dates agreed upon in
the agreement,' added al-Bayati.
Under the security agreement worked out by George W Bush's
administration last year with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,
all US forces must leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
USA
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