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September 16, 2009

Biden Meets With Iraqi Officials, a Day After Mortar Attack
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US vice president's talks expected to focus on Iraq's plans to hold
national parliamentary elections in January 
US Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Iraqi Vice President Adel
Abdel Mahdi during meeting at US Embassy in Baghdad, 16 Sep 2009U.S.
Vice President Joe Biden is meeting with Iraqi officials on the
second day of his visit to Baghdad, where a mortar attack killed two
people shortly after his arrival Tuesday. Biden's talks Wednesday are
expected to focus on Iraq's plans to hold national parliamentary
elections in January. Earlier,
the U.S. military said Iraqi and U.S. troops detained three militants
suspected of carrying out Tuesday's mortar attack on Baghdad's Green
Zone government district. Iraqi police say one of four mortars fired at
the Green Zone fell short and hit an apartment building, killing two
civilians. No casualties or damage were reported inside the Green Zone.
A
U.S. monitoring group, SITE Intelligence Group, says an Iraqi militant
faction, the Mujahideen Army, claimed responsibility for the attack in
a statement posted on Islamist Web sites. The monitors quote
the Mujahideen Army as saying it fired rockets, not mortars, at the
Green Zone, in what the faction called a "reception" for Biden. On
Tuesday, Biden said a successful vote in Iraq's parliamentary election
is necessary for Iraq to resolve political differences between its
Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni communities. Biden also said Iraq is
"likely" to hold a national referendum on its security pact with the
United States early next year. The pact, which took effect at the start
of this year, calls for all U.S. forces to leave the country by the end
of 2011.Biden met Tuesday with the top U.S. commander in Iraq,
General Ray Odierno. The vice president said Odierno is optimistic
that Iraqi forces will be able to control security when the U.S.
military completes a phased pullout of combat forces from Iraq by
August 2010.Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and
Reuters.


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