BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Iraq (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is making an unannounced visit to Iraq in the highest-level American trip since President Donald Trump ordered a pullback of U.S. forces in Syria two months ago.
Pence is meeting Saturday with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani in a move meant to reassure the U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State after Syrian Kurds suffered under a bloody Turkish assault last month after the withdrawal.
Pence is also visiting Iraq’s Al-Asad Air Base, from which U.S. forces launched the operation in Syria last month that resulted in the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Pence, joined by his wife, Karen, is also greeting U.S. troops ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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3:45 p.m.
Iraqi officials say Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Iraq on an unannounced visit.
The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say Pence arrived at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province in western Iraq on Saturday. U.S. troops are based in the complex.
The visit is Pence’s first to Iraq and comes nearly one year since President Donald Trump’s surprise visit to the country.
It is not immediately known whether Pence will meet with Iraqi officials during his stay.
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