TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is slated to pay a visit to the US next week to discuss Syria’s developments with senior American officials, specially President Barack Obama, a senior official announced on Sunday.


“Mr. Maliki will discuss issues such as purchasing military equipment, the Syrian crisis and regional developments with senior US officials, including Mr. Obama and (vice-president) Joe Biden,” Maliki’s Advisor Ali Mousavi told FNA today.

Al-Maliki and Obama last met in December 2011 concurrent with the full withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq.

Earlier this week, al-Maliki said any military solution to Syria will lead to a dead end, and repeated Baghdad’s support for political solutions to the deadly unrest in the Muslim country.

“The arrival of military options at a dead end and the growing conviction of the need to reach a political solution to the crisis have increased the odds of a successful push for peace,” said Maliki in a statement on Monday.

The statement was issued following Maliki’s meeting with UN/Arab League Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday. Brahimi is on a regional tour to muster support for the planned Geneva II peace conference on the Syrian crisis, which is expected to be held in November, Al-Alam reported.

The Iraqi leader further stressed that Baghdad is ready to throw its weight behind Brahimi’s initiative to mediate a political solution “for all Syrians and the region”.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards across the country.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since some sporadic protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots to topple President Bashar al-Assad, who is well known in the world for his anti-Israeli stances.

By Fars News Agency

 

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