Region | Iraq
Obama visits Iraq's former insurgent haven
US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama travelled to Anbar province on Tuesday to meet Sunni Arab tribal leaders whose decision to fight Al Qaida helped change the course of the conflict in Iraq.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:03 July 23, 2008
Baghdad: US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama travelled to Anbar province on Tuesday to meet Sunni Arab tribal leaders whose decision to fight Al Qaida helped change the course of the conflict in Iraq.
Obama held talks with tribal chiefs including Ahmad Abu Risha, head of the US-backed Awakening Council, an alliance of tribes in the vast desert region that was once the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency against American forces.
After visiting Anbar, Obama flew to Jordan, next stage on a multi-nation tour that will include Israel, France, Germany and Britain.
Obama met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and American military commanders in Baghdad on Monday in a trip that was dominated by the question of when US troops should leave Iraq.
US strategy in Iraq and troop numbers are central issues in the election race between the first-term senator from Illinois and Republican candidate John McCain.
Control
Abu Risha said tribal chiefs told Obama any withdrawal of US forces from Anbar should be carried out cautiously.
Obama has promised to remove US troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, should he be elected.
"We told him the withdrawal of US forces can happen when Iraqi forces are capable and ready to deal with the security situation in the province," Abu Risha said after the meeting in the local capital Ramadi.
US forces are due to hand security control of Anbar to Iraqi forces but local political wrangling has delayed the move.
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