UN Chief Ban Ki-moon to meet Iraqi PM

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is travelling to Baghdad today for a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, the first visit by the top United Nations official in nearly 18 months.

Mr Ban will be in the Iraqi capital for only one day of meetings with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, whose forces are working with the US military in a major operation to curb violence in Baghdad and the surrounding territory.

UN officials confirmed the visit, but would not detail the agenda.

The top UN official was last in Baghdad when Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, visited the capital in November 2005.

Annan’s visit came in the midst of a flurry of diplomatic activity in advance of Iraq’s elections for Parliament in December of that year.