Lebanese Sunni leader meets Iraq prime minister in Iraq (Roundup)

Jul 17, 2008, 20:09 GMT

Baghdad - Lebanese Sunni leader Saad Hariri met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Thursday during a rather calm day in Iraq after a deadly explosion that took place north of the capital the night before.

According to the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency, the Shiite Iraqi leader congratulated Hariri on the formation of a government of national unity in Beirut in which Sunnis and Shiites, including members of the militant movements Hezbollah and Amal.

Hariri is the first Lebanese politician to visit Iraq since the US invasion five years ago.

Both Iraq and Lebanon similarly face sectarian strife between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Al-Maliki's government and the United States have increased pressure on Arab heads of state and government to renew diplomatic contacts with Iraq.

Thursday was somehow calm in Iraq after a deadly blast late Wednesday in the northern province of Nineveh left at least 15 people dead and 94 others wounded. Iraqi authorities said that a car- bomb explosion had ripped though a residential area in Talafar district, in Nineveh.

VOI reported that this was the third blast to hit the province, while the first two left two people dead and 15 injured.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi and US forces arrested 16 suspected al-Qaeda gunmen during a crackdown operations near Samara, a police source said earlier on Thursday.

The source told VOI that a large amount of weapons and ammunitions were seized during the operation, in the northern Salahaddin province.

Meanwhile, the Iranian embassy in Baghdad Thursday denied US military officials' accusations that Iran supports the special groups in Iraq. The US military uses the term 'special groups' to describe Shiite armed groups which it believes are trained and funded by Iran.

'Iran denies the news reported by US military officials regarding Iran's support to the special group,' VOI quoted a statement by the embassy.

The announcement termed the US accusations as 'lies and not grounded in proof' and said that 'the US charges aimed at ruining ties between the two countries (Iraq and Iran).'