UN Secretary-General Meets with Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad

Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, met with Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, and other senior officials of the country on Monday, April 10, in Baghdad. According to AFP, Mr. Ban, who arrived in Baghdad on Monday morning, initially met with Fuad Masum, the President of Iraq, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Foreign Minister, and Salim al-Jabouri, the Speaker of Parliament, before engaging in discussions with Haider al-Abadi. The Secretary-General's visit to Iraq comes at a time when the Iraqi army is conducting its largest operation to date against the Islamic State group, aiming to retake the city of Tikrit, although reports indicate that the Islamic State group is resisting, causing the battle for the city to prolong. However, it has been reported that Iraqi soldiers began another round of operations to retake Tikrit on Monday morning, with coalition aircraft led by the United States providing air support for this operation. Recently, the UN Human Rights Commissioner released a report stating that members of the Islamic State group or ISIS have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Iraq. This report also accuses Iraqi army soldiers and their allied militias of actions such as 'executions without trial, torture, kidnapping, and the forced displacement of large numbers of people.' Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon's special representative in Iraq has changed, with Jan Kubis from Slovakia replacing Nikolai Mladenov from Bulgaria, an event that occurred just before the Secretary-General's visit to Baghdad. Mr. Ban intends to travel to Kuwait after Iraq to participate in a meeting regarding the Syrian civil war.