Blinken makes unannounced trip to Iraq as international community grapples with Syrian regime collapse
Source: CNN Politics
Updated 5:02 PM EST, Fri December 13, 2024
Baghdad CNN — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq Friday to meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as the international community grapples with the implications of the Syrian government’s collapse.
Blinken met with Sudani for more than an hour in Baghdad — the latest in a string of meetings in Turkey and Jordan amid an urgent effort to coordinate an approach to Syria following the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime to rebel forces last weekend.
As the US works with its key regional partners like Iraq, there is particular focus on ensuring that “any interim government also makes sure that Syria is not used as a base for terrorism, extremism and pose a threat to its neighbors or ally with groups like ISIS,” Blinken said Thursday. He noted that the infamous terrorist group “no doubt will seek to regroup.”
Blinken’s meeting with the Iraqi prime minister comes days after the top US military commander for the Middle East visited “for an assessment of the D-ISIS mission inside Iraq and Syria.” Two top State Department officials were also in Baghdad ahead of Blinken’s visit.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/13/politics/antony-blinken-iraq-syria/index.html
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