Kerry warns Iraq before leaving for Washington

PARIS: US Secretary of State John Kerry headed for home yesterday after making clandestine journeys to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he delivered a stern warning to Iraqi leaders about Syria and sought to patch up differences with Afghanistan’s president.
Kerry was flying back to Washington from Paris, having piggy-backed off President Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East to make unannounced stops in Baghdad and Kabul, as well as following up on Obama’s discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
In Iraq, he told Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki that shipments of Iranian weapons and fighters through Iraqi territory must stop. In Afghanistan, he put on a show of unity with President Hamid Karzai, whose recent anti-American comments had angered US officials.
Kerry’s first foray as secretary of state into the war zones were shrouded in secrecy for security reasons.
Using Jordan — the last stop on Obama’s tour — as a base, Kerry flew surreptitiously to Baghdad aboard a military transport plane Sunday for meetings with Al-Maliki and other Iraq officials just four days after the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
A key message, officials said, was to warn Iraq that unless it cracks down on Iranian planes and trucks using Iraqi territory to supply Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime with arms, it will not have a voice in ongoing preparations for a post-Assad Syria. He also urged the Iraqis to overcome deep sectarian differences that have fueled consistent instability since the departure of US troops in late 2011, and to hold inclusive, transparent local elections next month.