Baghdad: The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff is meeting in Iraq with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.
Admiral Mike Mullen will later on Monday tour US military installations to talk with US forces as they head into the final planned year of their mission.
The US military has an agreement with the Iraqi government to leave by the end of 2011. However, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he is open to the idea of keeping troops in Iraq past that deadline if Iraq asks for it.
Al Maliki said onSaturday the agreement will stand because Iraqi forces are capable of taking care of the country's security.
A spike in violence, however, has underscored the continued potency of extremists. Mullen's visit comes a day after a suicide bomber killed 17 outside government offices near Baghdad.
