US defense secretary in Iraq to discuss Daesh fight

BAGHDAD

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday in an unannounced visit, senior sources told Anadolu Agency.

The sources said Carter will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and other officials to discuss the political and security situation in the region, especially the fight against Daesh.

Carter is expected to head to Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, following his trip to Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will reopen its Baghdad embassy after it had being closed for 25 years, according to Iraqi officials.

A senior Saudi diplomatic delegation arrived in the Iraqi capital late Tuesday to prepare for the reopening in the next few days.

Saudi Arabia had closed its embassy in Baghdad after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Saudi-Iraqi relations became fractious for eight years since 2003, after former Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki took office.

In September, Iraq had appointed a new envoy to Saudi Arabia in an effort to normalize relations between the two nations.

Iraq has suffered a devastating security vacuum since June 2014, when Daesh overran the northern city of Mosul – the country’s second largest city – before going on to capture additional territory in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.