Sandstorms postpone Biden’s visit to Arbil
July 4, 2009 - 03:44:45
ARBIL / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will not visit the Iraqi Kurdistan region due to bad weather conditions and sandstorms in Iraq, according to a Kurdish official on Saturday.
“Biden was scheduled to arrive on Saturday afternoon at the Arbil International Airport, but the visit cancelled due to bad weather conditions in the country,” Falah Mustafa, the official in charge of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s foreign relations department, said in statements reported by the Peymaner news agency.
Peyamner is affiliated to Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barazani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The KRG presidential cabinet chief, Fouad Hussein, had told Aswat al-Iraq earlier on Saturday that Biden would arrive in Arbil to meet Barazani and discuss recent political development.
Biden had arrived in Baghdad on Thursday (July 2) on a surprise visit during which he met with senior Iraqi officials.
The White House has said that U.S. President Barack Obama has recently entrusted Biden with the task of overseeing the efforts of political reconciliation in Iraq.
Two days earlier, ABC News quoted a senior U.S. administration official that Biden will be a “high point of contact” by his playing of a more effective role through contacts with Iraqi officials.
AmR (S)/SR
Print versionGovernorate News
Polls
Loading ...Weather
