Lebanon's Premier Fouad Seniora visits Iraq

Aug 20, 2008, 8:39 GMT

Baghdad - Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Senior arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraqi state television reported.

Seniora's visit that will include talks on trade and oil, is the first to the conflict-torn country by a Lebanese leader in two decades.

Officials in Baghdad preparing for Seniora's visit told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa he would be accompanied by a political and economic delegation.

Iraq regards his visit as an important step towards rebuilding relations with Lebanon, they said. Baghdad is working to re-establish ties with its neighbours in the wake of five years of bloodshed.

Meanwhile, tensions between Sunni and Shiites in Iraq's northern Diyala province remained high Wednesday, a day after US-led Iraqi special forces carried out a raid on provincial government headquarters.

The raid sparked clashes between the forces and Diyala's Sunni governor, in which his secretary was killed. Iraq's Shiite Premier Nuri al-Maliki initiated a probe into the incident.

The raid was part of a crackdown in restive Diyala province extends to the north-east of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. The Iraqi forces also arrested the Sunni president of Diyala University.