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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Rice Pops Up in Iraq to Plead for Peace

Calls for reconciliation on surprise visit

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(Newser) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Iraq for a surprise visit today to plead for increased efforts at reconciliation, Reuters reports. She flew into the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk—which some expect to be the next flashpoint for violence. The city's Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen are deeply divided, and fears of fighting have delayed a planned vote on the city's future status. 

Rice met with local leaders and called for unity. "I have always looked forward to coming to Kirkuk. It is in an important province for the future of Iraq, for a democratic Iraq, an Iraq that can be for all peoples," she said. Her unannounced visit came just hours after Turkish troops moved into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels.

Arab residents of Kirkuk, an oil-rich province of northern Iraq, line up outside the Article 140 government building, waiting to register to be resettled outside the province as part of a constitutional mandate to reverse demographic changes Saddam Hussein forced on the area, north of Baghdad on Monday Oct. 1,...
Arab residents of Kirkuk, an oil-rich province of northern Iraq, line up outside the Article 140 government building, waiting to register to be resettled outside the province as part of a constitutional...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice on a previous visit to Iraq. She arrived today for a surprise visit to the volatile northern city of Kirkuk.
U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice on a previous visit to Iraq. She arrived today for a surprise visit to the volatile northern city of Kirkuk.   (Getty Images)
TURKEY-US-IRAQ-KURDS-UNREST-RICE
TURKEY-US-IRAQ-KURDS-UNREST-RICE   (Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, foreground right, is seen shortly after her arrival at Ankara airport, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007. Rice was meeting Friday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other high-ranking officials as part of an intense campaign to prevent Turkey from sending its troops...
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, foreground right, is seen shortly after her arrival at Ankara airport, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007. Rice was meeting Friday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses reporters after her meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007, in Paris. She flew to Kirkuk in Iraq the next day for a surprise visit. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses reporters after her meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007, in Paris. She flew to Kirkuk in Iraq the...   (Associated Press)
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Iraq • Condoleezza Rice • State Department • Kurds • Iraq Civil War • Kirkuk

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