Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Amr Moussa held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Thursday over national reconciliation in the war-torn country.

"We talked about the specific mission of the head of the AL, in the framework of a national dialogue and national Iraqi reconciliation," Moussa told reporters in a news conference after he met Jaafari and other senior Iraqi officials.

"We believe that the relation between Iraq and the AL is not like the one between two parties, but we are integral part of the AL," Jaafari said.

"We welcome the Arab initiative which should not include former high-ranking members of the dissolved Baath Party or terrorist groups," Jaafari added.

During his three-day visit, Moussa is expected later to meet President Jalal Talabani and Iraq's foremost Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on setting up Iraq's national reconciliation conference.

Moussa arrived in Baghdad on Thursday on his first visit to Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Source: Xinhua