U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gestures during a news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at the start of a Middle East tour in Amman, Jordan, January 8, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS
Baghdad: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Iraq's Speaker of Parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi in Baghdad on Wednesday, state television reported.
Pompeo is touring Middle Eastern capitals, weeks after President Donald Trump's abrupt announcement that he will pull all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, which caused alarm among U.S. allies in the region.
Trump made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Dec. 26, when he said the United States could use its bases in Iraq as a platform for continued operations in Syria. At the time, he did not meet with any Iraqi officials, which infuriated local politicians.
The State Department did not immediately confirm or have any comment about Pompeo's Iraq visit on Wednesday. Pompeo was in Jordan on Tuesday and is expected in Cairo later Wednesday.
