AFP, Washington :
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wrapped up his inaugural visit to the US on Thursday, winning pledges that long-delayed F-16 fighter jets will soon be delivered and vowing to calm the sectarian tensions dividing his country.
The new prime minister, who took office in September and replaced the divisive Nuri al-Maliki, denied he had come to Washington with a shopping list of weapons for Iraqi forces.
But, after three days of meetings, including with lawmakers and Tuesday’s White House talks with President Barack Obama, he appeared not to be leaving empty-handed.
Vice President Joe Biden congratulated Abadi on “a very successful visit,” adding that the Iraq-US partnership would “grow long after” the Islamic State group is defeated.
During talks with US administration officials, Abadi said he had been assured that 36 F-16s ordered by Iraq as far back as 2011 would be delivered soon.
Iraq has had no real air force since the US-led invasion ousted late dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The fighter jets will play a vital role battling the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militants who have captured a large swathe of Abadi’s country, as well as parts of neighboring Syria.
“What we are facing in Iraq is a polarization of society fuelled by this terrorism,” Abadi told a Washington think tank on the final day of his visit.
Flush from the success in wresting back control of Tikrit, US officials were also sympathetic to his plea to help equip two brigades of Iraqi forces in training to lead the fight to recapture Anbar, Iraq’s largest province, from the IS militants, Abadi said.
“Our government’s highest priority is reducing ethnic and sectarian tensions and divisions in Iraq,” he assured the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wrapped up his inaugural visit to the US on Thursday, winning pledges that long-delayed F-16 fighter jets will soon be delivered and vowing to calm the sectarian tensions dividing his country.
The new prime minister, who took office in September and replaced the divisive Nuri al-Maliki, denied he had come to Washington with a shopping list of weapons for Iraqi forces.
But, after three days of meetings, including with lawmakers and Tuesday’s White House talks with President Barack Obama, he appeared not to be leaving empty-handed.
Vice President Joe Biden congratulated Abadi on “a very successful visit,” adding that the Iraq-US partnership would “grow long after” the Islamic State group is defeated.
During talks with US administration officials, Abadi said he had been assured that 36 F-16s ordered by Iraq as far back as 2011 would be delivered soon.
Iraq has had no real air force since the US-led invasion ousted late dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The fighter jets will play a vital role battling the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militants who have captured a large swathe of Abadi’s country, as well as parts of neighboring Syria.
“What we are facing in Iraq is a polarization of society fuelled by this terrorism,” Abadi told a Washington think tank on the final day of his visit.
Flush from the success in wresting back control of Tikrit, US officials were also sympathetic to his plea to help equip two brigades of Iraqi forces in training to lead the fight to recapture Anbar, Iraq’s largest province, from the IS militants, Abadi said.
“Our government’s highest priority is reducing ethnic and sectarian tensions and divisions in Iraq,” he assured the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
