US vice president-elect Joe Biden, on a trail-blazing visit to Baghdad ahead of Barack Obama taking over as US president, on Tuesday discussed with Iraqi prime minister America's troop presence in Iraq.
Officials told AFP that Biden met Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after arriving in the Iraqi capital from Afghanistan via Kuwait on Monday and first holding talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
Discussions focused on the future of US forces in Iraq and improving economic relations with the administration of president-elect Obama who will take over on January 20 from President George W. Bush.
"Talks during the meeting reviewed security and political progress... including establishment of the law and the building of Iraqi armed forces that will take over responsibility after the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq," said a statement from Maliki's office.
The United States, which invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled president Saddam Hussein, currently has 146,000 soldiers in Iraq but is increasingly taking a backseat to a more assertive Iraqi police and army.
Under the terms of an agreement signed between Baghdad and Washington last November, US combat forces will remain in the country until the end of 2011, but operate under the authority of the Iraqi government.
The agreement requires that US troops obtain Iraqi permission for all military operations, and that they hand over the files of all detainees in US custody to the Iraqi justice system, which will decide their fate.
For his part Biden reiterated US support for Iraq's fledgling democratic political process and the continuing steps to restore its sovereignty.
He stressed the importance of coordination and collaboration between Baghdad and Washington as both sides implement the bilateral military accord that took effect on January 1.
Obama has promised to pull one or two combat brigades out of Iraq every month over a period of 16 months, leaving a small security force of unspecified size remaining.
Unlike Obama, Biden was initially in favour of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but has been critical of the handling of the subsequent years in the conflict since Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Maliki also said that following the recent improvements in security, Iraq would seek greater self-reliance as it strives to reconstruct its war-shattered economy, government and legal institutions.
Attacks of all types have been sharply down across Iraq in recent months, although insurgents seem still able to strike at will, as occurred in Baghdad on Monday when at least eight people died in a series of bomb attacks.
