Iraqi PM, top US diplomat agree on political solution for Syria unrest

The Iraqi premier’s office says Nouri al-Maliki and the US Secretary of State John Kerry have agreed on the necessity of a political solution for the situation in Syria.

Kerry arrived in Iraq on Sunday and held talks with Prime Minister al-Maliki over the two-year conflict in Syria.

The top US diplomat accused Iran of sending military personnel and equipment through Iraq’s airspace, a claim Baghdad has already denied several times, saying it inspects suspected flights.

Kerry’s unannounced visit comes only days after the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime.

In addition to al-Maliki, Kerry met with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and also spoke on the phone with Massoud Barzani, the head of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

The trip is Kerry’s first to Iraq since taking office earlier this year, and the first by an American secretary of state since 2009.