OAG NEPAL

The United States Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. landed in Baghdad on Saturday for a visit that could signal a move by the United States to come to terms with the political scenario that would ensue in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. forces this summer.

The visit is being critiqued by some as America’s re-engagement in Iraq’s internal affairs and as an answer to those who said that the Obama Administration has lacked focus in setting up a good political relationship with Iraq.

Mr. Biden, who arrived in Baghdad with his wife Jill, is expected to attend meetings with various top Iraq leaders. Most of the political leaders have welcomed his visit and acknowledged it as a method to resolve Iraq’s political crisis.

The visit is being seen as a ray of hope by some Iraqi leaders as means finding a solution to Iraq’s problem of not having a government despite parliamentary elections four months ago. Even though elections were held to elect members of parliament, the elected members were so divided that they could not choose a leader amongst themselves to become the prime minister and form a government at the centre.

Mr. Biden’s visit is coinciding with the visits of Senator John McCain, Joseph I. Liberman and Lindsey Graham.