Baghdad, Iraq – Vice President Dick Cheney sought to encourage reconciliation among rival Iraqi factions today in an unannounced visit to Baghdad, emphasizing that the current U.S. military buildup alone will not end the conflict.
Cheney made Iraq the first stop of a week-long trip to the Middle East aimed at redoubling efforts to end divisive infighting among Iraq’s ethnic factions.
He got a firsthand briefing on conditions from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and the new U.S. ambassador here, Ryan Crocker.
In what was to be a full day- long meeting, Cheney was to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as with Iraq’s Kurdish president and its Sunni and Shiite vice presidents.
Aides said Cheney’s mission was both to get a sense of the situation on the ground in Iraq and to deliver a message that more work is needed on the political front to overcome divisions and delays. That included a renewed request that the Iraqi parliament not take a two-month vacation.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomber attacked a crowded market in the Shiite holy city of Kufa, killing at least 16, injuring more than 70 and further stoking rising tensions between rival Shiite militias.
The bomb was detonated in a gray sedan beside a restaurant and across the street from a girls’ primary school.
A mob immediately gathered at the grisly scene, surrounding the blast’s crater and violently blamed U.S. forces and the Iraqi police for allowing the attack.
The incident represented the latest skirmish in recent days between the two sides in far-reaching sections of the country, including places such as Baghdad, Diwaniyah, Basra and Najaf.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
