U.S. Vice president Biden phones Kurdistan president and Ira

[Aslan]

U.S. Vice President Biden spoke with Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani and Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama Nujayfi, Thursday, May 23rd.

With President Barzani, the Vice President commended the return of Kurdish ministers and parliamentarians to Baghdad, and stressed the importance of engagement by all sides to seek solutions to contentious issues under the Iraqi Constitution.
With Speaker Nujayfi, the Vice President expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq,www.ekurd.net stressing the need for all of Iraq?s political leadership to unequivocally renounce violence and seek to marginalize extremists. All three leaders reaffirmed the importance of the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership.

Also Joe Biden telephoned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Friday to express concern over the recent rise in violence, including bombings.

The White House says Biden pledged continued U.S. support for Iraq in its fight against terrorism. A statement says Biden and Maliki agreed on the importance of reaching out to all political leaders in Iraq and the need for a negotiated end to Syria's civil war.