U.S. defence secretary Ash Carter arrives in Erbil

Record ID: 84156

  • Title: U.S. defence secretary Ash Carter arrives in Erbil
  • Date: 23rd October 2016
  • Summary: ERBIL, IRAQ (OCTOBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF U.S. AIR FORCE PLANE TAXIING ON RUNWAY PLANE STOPPING AT RED CARPET U.S. DEFENCE SECRETARY, ASH CARTER, DESCENDING FROM PLANE, GREETED BY PRIME MINISTER OF THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT, NECHIRVAN BARZANI KURDISTANI HONOUR GUARDS STANDING CARTER AND BARZANI WALKING ALONG RED CARPET HONOUR GUARD STANDING CARTER AND BARZANI ON RED CARPET, SHAKING HANDS, LEAVING CARTER'S CONVOY ARRIVING AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE CARTER AND KURDISH REGIONAL PRESIDENT MASSOUD BARZANI WALKING INTO ROOM, SHAKING HANDS CARTER SMILING CAMERAS FILMING CARTER AND BARZANI LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2016 09:13
  • Keywords: Ash Carter U.S. Kurds Barzani Iraq
  • Location: ERBIL, IRAQ
  • City: ERBIL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015584RIF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter landed in Erbil in northern Iraq on Sunday (October 23) a day after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad.
    He was greeted at the airport by the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani, before going on to meet the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani.
    Carter is in Iraq's Kurdish region to assess progress in the campaign to recapture Mosul from Islamic State, which began last Monday.
    It is expected to be the most important battle fought in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
    A U.S.-led coalition is providing air and ground support and roughly 5,000 U.S. forces are in the country.
    More than 100 of them are embedded with Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces involved with the Mosul offensive, advising commanders and helping them ensure coalition air power hits the right targets, officials said. Those forces are not at the front lines, they added.
    During a visit to Ankara on Friday, Carter signaled his support for a possible Turkish role in the Mosul campaign and said there was an agreement in principle between Baghdad and Ankara - potentially ending a source of tension between the two governments.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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