BAGHDAD - IraqÂ’s Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki will make his first official visit to Iran on Monday, a trip that will bring into focus key security and political issues at a time when Baghdad is battling to avert a civil war.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said on Saturday Maliki, a Shia, would discuss with fellow Islamist leaders in Iran, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the “principle of no interference in internal affairs” during his two-day visit. “The purpose of the visit is to discuss political and security issues,” Dabbagh told Reuters.
The announcement of Maliki’s visit follows a dispute between the two countries in which Iranian border guards this week detained Iraqi guards after accusing them of crossing into Iran. Iraq’s Defence Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Shaker said the Iraqi patrol, consisting of five soldiers, an officer and a translator, had simply been doing “their duty”. |