Pelosi ends Iraq visit after talks on vote, security: officials
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Nancy Pelosi (L) speaks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Related News
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BAGHDAD (AFP) — US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed Iraq's upcoming provincial elections and security issues during a flying visit to Baghdad, officials said Sunday.
The US congressional leader, who flew in to the Iraqi capital on a unannounced visit Saturday, left after talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and her Iraqi counterpart Mahmud Mashhadani, embassy spokeswoman here said.
"She flew out last night," the US embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said.
She declined to give details of the meetings, but Iraqi officials said they discussed the October provincial elections and the security situation in Iraqi cities.
The Pelosi visit came as President George W. Bush was also visiting the Middle East. Pelosi had earlier said that she wanted much of the 158,000 US troops deployed in Iraq withdrawn by the end of this year.
Pelosi visited Baghdad as Iraqi security forces backed by American troops kept up a major crackdown against the Al-Qaeda in the northern city of Mosul, which is regarded by the US military as the last urban bastion of jihadists.
Maliki's office said Pelosi promised "renewed US support" for his government and declared that Washington "would stand by efforts to achieve security and stability and ensure national reconciliation in Iraq."
The Iraqi premier had flown to the capital from Mosul where he has been directing the latest offensive that is said to have netted some 1,100 suspects since Wednesday, according to the Iraqi defence ministry.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hUto6UMXNVWHIT4u3uEZ4eRSynkA
