Activities of Secretary-General in Iraq, 26 March

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew on Saturday, 26 March, from Beirut, Lebanon, to Baghdad, Iraq, for a joint visit with Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, and Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, President of the Islamic Development Bank.

Upon arrival, the three leaders met at Baghdad International Airport with Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, before a meeting and a joint press conference with Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi.  In his remarks, the Secretary-General condemned the recent terrorist attack in Iskanderiyeh, south of Baghdad, and called on Iraq’s regional and international partners to lend their support to the Government and people of Iraq in the fight against Da’esh.

The Secretary-General, Dr. Kim and Mr. Ali also addressed Iraq’s Council of Representatives.  (See Press Release SG/SM/17630.)

They then visited the headquarters of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), where he and Dr. Kim participated in a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of the victims of the Canal Hotel attack.

The delegation then flew to Erbil for a meeting with Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, with whom the Secretary-General discussed the economic and fiscal crises in the Kurdistan Region that are compounding the war against Da’esh and the response to the humanitarian crisis.

In the evening, the Secretary-General left Erbil for Amman, Jordan.