AL delegation to support Iraq's anti-IS fight

BAGHDAD - An Arab League (AL) delegation headed by AL chief Nabil al-Arabi arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Sunday on an official visit to show support with the struggling Middle East country in its fight against the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group, an official said.

Among the key members of the delegation are Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah and Mauritanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ahmed Ould Teguedi, whose country chairs AL's current session, said the official with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

The delegation of the pan-Arab body is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Fuad Masoum, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri, he added.

The visit can be seen as a gesture to reaffirm decisions adopted earlier by the Arab League to show support and solidarity with the Iraqi people and government in their efforts to fight terrorism and restore security and stability.

The security situation began to drastically deteriorate in Iraq since June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and hundreds of IS militants, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

Last month, the United States has sought to build a coalition of both world and regional countries to push back the terrorist group's quick expansion. So far, the US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the positions of IS militants in both Iraq and Syria.