President Obama and Iraqi PM al Maliki hold talks; protest outside White House

United States President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday discussed ways they could work together to stop the threat of an increasingly active al-Qaeda in Iraq, although Obama stopped short of announcing any new commitments of assistance as Baghdad was seeking.             

Al-Maliki came to the White House seeking more US aid to combat the violence ravaging his country, including additional weapons and help with intelligence.                     
Bloodshed brought on by insurgents in Iraq has spiked since US troops left in 2011. 

Obama said at the end of his roughly two-hour meeting with al-Maliki that the best way to honor lives lost during the Iraq war would be to bring about a functioning democracy.          

Neither leader discussed al-Maliki's request for help before reporters, although Obama indicated the United States has self-interest in helping Iraq combat violence. 

"Unfortunately al-Qaida has still been active and has grown more active recently," Obama said. "So we had a lot of discussion about how we can work together to push back against that terrorist organization that operates not only in Iraq, but also poses a threat to the entire region and to the United States."                       

Al-Maliki said that the two leaders had "similar positions" on countering extremism and want to work together.              

He described Iraq's democracy as fragile, but vowed to strengthen it.         

The two leaders also discussed regional issues, including Syria and Iran.                     

Earlier in the day, outside the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, about 200 anti-Maliki demonstrators rallied in opposition to the Iraqi leader over the alleged death of 52 and disappearance of seven others from an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad, Camp Ashraf.            

The dissidents accuse Iraqi security forces of carrying out the killings, but Baghdad denies involvement.                 

The demonstrators urged President Obama to cut aid to the current Iraqi government. 

Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, addressed the group - suggesting that Maliki was a "puppet" of the Iranians.           

Al-Maliki's visit with Obama was their first meeting since December 2011, six days before the last US troops left Iraq.                       

At the time, Obama pledged the US would remain committed to the government they left behind, and helped create.                                

The troop withdrawal came after al-Maliki's government refused to let US forces remain in Iraq with legal immunity that the Obama administration insisted was necessary to protect troops.

Obama had campaigned for the presidency on ending the nearly nine-year war in Iraq and took the opportunity offered by the legal dispute to pull all troops out.  
          
Indiscriminate violence has continued to rise, with the United Nations saying on Friday that 979 Iraqis were killed last month alone - 852 civilians and 127 were security forces - and nearly 2,000 more injured. 


AP