US Intelliegence chief Negroponte meets PM al-Maliki

(3 Nov 2006) 1. Vehicles arriving 2. Security staff opening doors 3. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki greeting US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad 4. Khalilzad greeting National Security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie 5. Al-Maliki greeting US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte 6. Al-Maliki and Negroponte walking through corridor 7. Al-Maliki and Negroponte shaking hands at formal meeting 8. Al-Maliki greeting Zalmay Khalilzad and other officials 9. Various of meeting 10. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presiding over a meeting of Iraqi senior military officers 11. Al-Maliki addressing the officers 12. Various of officers taking notes 13. Al-Maliki listening to a question 14. Iraqi officer asking another question 15. Iraqi Defence Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi talking 16. Various of officers STORYLINE: US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Friday for talks with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. According to the Iraqi leader's office, Negroponte went directly to al-Maliki's residence where both men discussed the country's perilous security situation. Negroponte's visit comes just five days after National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley paid another previously unannounced trip to Iraq as tensions in the US-Iraqi relationship came to the surface following a series of critical statements by al-Maliki. The prime minister's office said the meeting with Negroponte in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone touched on political developments and the importance of upgrading Iraq's armed forces to the stage where they can take responsibility for national security. Negroponte had served as the American ambassador to Iraq before the current envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad. The US Embassy confirmed Negroponte was in Baghdad, but said no details of the visit would be released. Yassin Majid, the prime minister's spokesman said Negroponte's visit came "in the framework of a continuing series of meetings between the Iraqi government and the US administration." Meanwhile Iraq's Defence Minister cancelled leave for all army officers, apparently fearing violence after this Sunday's expected announcement of a verdict in the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Defence Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi was reported to have been heard issuing the order in videotaped footage of a meeting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and senior military and security officials, in which al-Maliki criticised them for failing to stop the capital's unbridled violence. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...