Iraqi president meets Pope Francis to urge joint call for reconciliation
Iraqi President Barham Salih met Pope Francis in Rome yesterday, in hope of spreading a message of unity and reconciliation in the war-torn country.
“Honoured to have met His Holiness the Pope. He cares deeply for Iraq and prays for our success, Mr Salih said on Twitter, “I invited him to visit Ur, where Abraham started his mission of peace and unity.”
Mr Salih presented the pope with a silver statue of a palm tree and in return Francis gave the Iraqi president a medal with two olive branches, saying it was a representation of unity between the two states.
“Iraq can bring together believers from all faiths to affirm peace, tolerance and to confront extremism,” he said.
He also met Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome on Thursday.
Mr Salih took part in the Mediterranean Dialogues where he stressed that “Iraq has the opportunity to play a leading role for stability in the region”.
Meanwhile in Iraq, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Masoud Barzani, met Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in the holy city of Najaf.
Mr Al Sadr said the talks with the Kurdish leader were the beginning of a “new approach on the political process in Iraq”.
Despite no longer leading Iraq’s Kurdish region, Mr Barzani remains a powerful figure as leader of the party.
His meeting with Mr Al Sadr is a sign of an improvement in relations between Baghdad and the region, after ties were strained by a Kurdish independence referendum last year.
Mr Barzani also held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Thursday in another sign of improving ties between the Kurds and Baghdad since the premier took office a month ago.
Iraq can bring together believers from all faiths to affirm peace, tolerance and to confront extremism BARHAM SALIH President of Iraq