Iraq's president calls for regional peace, stability

BAGHDAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi President Barham Salih on Monday lauded the U.S.-led coalition support to Iraq, asserting the need to achieve regional peace and stability.

Salih's comments came during his meeting with James Jeffrey, the U.S. special envoy for anti-terrorism coalition, and his accompanying delegation in Iraq's northern city of Sulaimaniyah, a statement from the presidency office said.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed the latest security and political development in the region, highlighting the need to solve conflicts, according to the statement.

Salih asserted Iraq's keenness to "expand the horizons of joint cooperation between Iraq and the United States in all fields, and the importance of coordination between the two sides on security and political developments," the statement said.

Salih also lauded the U.S. support for Iraq in the fight against terror and the reconstruction of areas destroyed in the fight to dislodge the extremist Islamic State (IS) group from Iraq, the statement said.

For his part, Jeffrey reiterated his country's determination to continue support to Iraq in all fields, lauding the victory achieved by Iraqi forces against IS group, it added.

The United States is leading an international coalition tasked to help the Iraqi security forces in the fight against the extremist IS militants through carrying out air strikes against IS positions in Iraq and Syria, and providing military equipment and training to Iraqi forces.