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UN chief visits Baghdad amid tense standoff between Iraqi troops, al-Qaida militants in west
Published January 13, 2014
Associated Press
BAGHDAD – The U.N. chief has arrived in Baghdad as an unprecedented standoff is underway between Iraqi troops and al-Qaida-linked militants in western Anbar province.
Ahead of Ban Ki-moon's visit on Monday, the Iraqi government said the U.N. secretary-general would discuss a number of "regional issues, especially the crisis in Syria" next door.
Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribesmen in Anbar have been battling al-Qaida fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant but have yet to recapture the city of Fallujah and also part of the provincial capital, Ramadi.
The extremist militants, emboldened by fellow fighters' gains in the war in neighboring Syria, have tried to position themselves as the champions of Iraqi Sunnis angry at the Shiite-led government over what they see as efforts to marginalize them.
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