U.S. and Iranian experts held their first meeting in Baghdad's Green Zone on Monday over how to improve bilateral cooperation on the Iraqi security in the war- torn country, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
The security subcommittee meeting started at the office of the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and the U.S. embassy, a source from Maliki's office told reporters.
"Prime Minister Maliki did not attended the meeting, but some Iraqi security officials, politicians and diplomats were there," said the source who asked not be named.
The U.S. delegation was headed by Marcie Ries, minister- counsellor for political and military affairs at the U.S. embassy, an embassy spokesman said.
"It is the subcommittee. They are meeting today at the expert level and it has been hosted and organized by the Iraqis," said Philip Reeker, the spokesman.
"This is an Iraqi-led trilateral meeting. As far as I know, only security will be discussed in the meeting," Reeker added.
The security subcommittee was created during the second round of talks between the Iranian and U.S. ambassadors to Baghdad on July 24.
After the July talks, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for Iraqi militias after their first landmark talks in May.
"Over the roughly two months we have actually seen militia- related activities that can be attributed to Iranian support go up and not down," Crocker said after the second meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi-Qomi.
So far, there was no response from the Iranian delegation.
U.S. forces frequently accuse Iran of arming and training Iraqi militias to fight with U.S. troops, allegations Iranian officials have denied.
However, Iranian authorities blame the Iraqi chaos on U.S. military presence in the war-torn country, calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Source: Xinhua
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