BBC News Article: Iraqi PM visits insurgency hotbed

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has made an unannounced visit to Ramadi, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency.

It is the first visit as prime minister by Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim, to Iraq's western, mostly-Sunni Anbar province, and is being seen as highly symbolic.

He met Ramadi's provincial governor, as well as local tribal leaders and US and Iraqi military commanders.

Mr Maliki has said he wants to promote reconciliation between the minority Sunni community and the Shia community.

"I love this province and I'm proud that it's part of Iraq," he said after meeting Anbar governor Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani.

"I haven't been to Ramadi since 1976," he told reporters.

Mr Maliki said he and Mr al-Alwani had promised to work together to combat the insurgency.

The two met in a Saddam-era palace inside a US and Iraqi army base.

Ramadi has seen much heavy fighting between insurgents and US and Iraqi security forces.

It is the capital of Anbar province, a large area stretching from west of Baghdad to Iraq's borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Last September, tribal chiefs from the so-called Sunni Triangle met in Ramadi and agreed to join forces to fight al-Qaeda. But the agreement has not stopped attacks on civilians and security forces in the area.

Mr Maliki's visit comes as thousands of additional US and Iraqi troops conduct a security sweep through Baghdad trying to quell insurgent and militia violence.

President Jalal Talabani is to return to Iraq on Wednesday from Amman, Jordan, where he has been recovering from exhaustion after being rushed to hospital for tests on 25 February.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6444859.stm