(10 Sep 2014) The US Secretary of State held talks with Iraq's leaders on Wednesday during a visit aimed at pressing Iraq's Shiite leader to quickly deliver more power to wary Sunnis - or jeopardise any hope of defeating the Islamic State group.
Kerry landed in the Iraqi capital just two days after newly sworn Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi seated his top government ministers, a crucial step toward restoring stability in a nation where security has spiralled out of control since the beginning of the year.
The trip marks the first high-level US meeting with al-Abadi since he become prime minister, and it aimed to symbolise the Obama administration's support for Iraq nearly three years after US troops left the war-torn country.
But it also signalled to al-Abadi, a Shiite Muslim, that the US was watching to make sure he gives Iraqi Sunnis more control over their local power structures and security forces, as promised.
Al-Abadi's predecessor, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, for years shut Sunnis out of power and refused to pay tribal militias salaries or give them government jobs - and in turn sowed widespread resentment that Islamic State extremists seized on as a recruiting tool.
Kerry also met with Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and President Fouad Massoum.
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