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September 15, 2009

US Vice President Visits Iraq, Meets with Leaders
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=26993C4:A6F02AD83191E1600DECC019B726B8FB2A201403E89ED254&
 
White House says Joe Biden will meet with Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and president of autonomous Kurdish
region, Massoud Barzani 
Vice President Joe Biden U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has arrived in
Iraq for talks with top Iraqi leaders and to visit American troops. The
White House says Biden will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and the president of Iraq's
autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani. Biden will also meet with
officials from the U.N. mission in Iraq. A White House statement says
the vice president will convey a "strong U.S. commitment to Iraq's
future and national unity."Biden
has been assigned to oversee the Obama administration's policy in Iraq,
as the United States takes steps to withdraw all of its combat troops
by August 2010.Last week, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq,
Christopher Hill, said Washington is on track to meet the withdrawal
timetable, despite an upsurge in attacks in the country. Hill said the
attacks have been an effort to undermine the Iraqi people as U.S. forces
gradually leave the country. This is Biden's third trip to Iraq this
year. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and
Reuters.


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