‘Visit of solidarity’: UN chief arrives in Baghdad  

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Following his arrival to the Iraqi capital on Tuesday night, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he is in the country on a “visit of solidarity” with the people and institutions.

For the first time in the past six years, the UN chief traveled to Baghdad and was received by the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein, with whom he held a joint press conference.

“This is a visit of solidarity. A solidarity with the people and the democratic institutions of Iraq and a solidarity that means that the United Nations is totally committed to support the consolidation of the institutions,” he said.

Iraqis will overcome the current challenges they are facing, Guterres said, “through open and inclusive dialogue.”

Welcoming the head of the international organization, Minister Hussein described bilateral relations between the UN and Iraq as “strong and interactive.”

The top UN chief is expected to meet with the Kurdistan Region’s senior officials as well during his visit. He might also visit the internally displaced Iraqis hosted in the Kurdish region. 

Iraq has repatriated numerous displaced families in Syria’s Al-Hol camp over the past year. Some of the IDPs are suspected of having loyalties to the Islamic State group, whose self-proclaimed caliphate was toppled in Syria in 2019, two years after they were defeated in Iraq. 

“I want to praise the efforts of the [Iraqi] government in allowing Iraqis outside the country to come back, and we will remain fully supportive of these efforts,” Guterres said.

In 2017, the UN's top leader visited Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, where he visited one of the internally displaced people (IDP) camps in the western Erbil province.