Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on an unprecedented visit to Iraq, was aiming to build ties with officials from a once-hated neighbor and to accuse the US of spreading terrorism.
The two-day visit was thick with symbolism as both the US and Iran seek to influence Iraq's future.
Ahmadinejad said talks on Sunday with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd who told the Iranian leader to call him "Uncle Jalal," were "brotherly."
Then Ahmadinejad cut through the US-controlled Green Zone to visit Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite, at his Cabinet offices.
The sprawling Green Zone contains the core of the US diplomatic mission to Iraq -- including a massive new embassy -- and is heavily protected against occasional rocket attacks, which US officials have blamed on Iranian-backed Shiite extremists.
Ahmadinejad denied the charges at least twice during news conferences throughout Sunday.
"Six years ago, there were no terrorists in our region. As soon as the others landed in this country and the region, we witnessed their arrival and presence," he said on Sunday night after meeting Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest Shiite political bloc.
Earlier, Ahmadinejad said that "such accusations increase the problems of the Americans in the region. The Iraqi people do not like the Americans."
The Iranian delegation seemed to enjoy the contrast between Ahmadinejad's visit and trips to Iraq by US President George W. Bush.
Ahmadinejad announced the dates of his visit in advance, landed at Baghdad International Airport in daylight and drove through the capital, albeit in a heavily guarded convoy, on a relatively quiet day. Iraqi forces provided security.
The Iranian leader also visited the holy Shiite shrine of Imam Mousa al-Kadim around midnight. He traveled in a motorcade under tight security through Baghdad's streets to the shrine in the northern Kazimiyah district, about 12km from al-Hakim's headquarters where he departed.
In contrast, Bush's visits are typically a surprise and involve trips mostly to US military bases, like his journey to an air base in Anbar Province last September.
The day before the Iranian president arrived, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, came to Baghdad unannounced to visit with commanders and Iraqi officials.
Bush on Saturday advised al-Maliki to tell Ahmadinejad to "quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens."
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, a military spokesman, reiterated on Sunday that the US hoped the Iranian-Iraqi meetings produce "real and tangible results," which in the US view would include Iran ending its alleged training and funding of extremists.
The tone among Ahmadinejad and his Iraqi hosts, meanwhile, was more than cordial.
"We had very good talks that were friendly and brotherly," Ahmadinejad said after meeting with Talabani, who greeted him with an honor guard and a band that played both countries' national anthems. "We have mutual understandings and views in all fields, and both sides plan to improve relations as much as possible."
After a meeting involving Ahmadinejad, al-Maliki and their advisers, the Iraqi prime minister said the visit was "an expression of the strong desire of enhancing relations and developing mutual interests after the past tension during the dictatorship era."
Ahmadinejad was set to meet with Talabani again yesterday before returning to Tehran.
Meanwhile, a car bomb killed at least 16 people and wounded 45 in central Baghdad yesterday, an Iraqi security official said.
The bomb detonated near a labor ministry building in a commercial area of the Bab al-Muazam neighborhood.
The wounded included ministry employees and students from the nearby Baghdad University, the official said.
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