WASHINGTON _ Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited two war-zone capitals Monday to reaffirm Washington's desire for stability in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tillerson traveled first to Kabul, Afghanistan, and later to Baghdad, Iraq. The State Department had not announced either trip in advance, and his visits were under heavy security out of fear of attack.
In the Iraqi capital, where people celebrated having driven Islamic State out of large parts of the country, Tillerson urged the central government and Kurdish-dominated areas to reconcile their differences.
Kurdish militias played a key role in the war against Islamic State in northern Iraq and now seek an independent state, which Baghdad vehemently opposes.
"We are concerned and a bit sad," Tillerson said after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at a heavily fortified government facility late Monday.
"We have friends in Baghdad and friends in (the Kurdish capital) Irbil and we encourage all parties to enter into discussion," he said.
The Trump administration has sided with al-Abadi in opposing the Kurdish bid for independence and rejecting the Kurds' recent referendum in favor of it. The administration says it wants to see a "unified, democratic" Iraq.
Al-Abadi may have dealt a setback to Tillerson, saying that the so-called Popular Mobilization fighters, which the U.S. considers undesirable proxies of Iran, are "part of our Iraqi institutions" who should be "encouraged."
"They will be the hope of country and the region," al-Abadi said.
Tillerson did not respond but had earlier called for Iran-backed fighters to be expelled from Iraq.
Earlier in Kabul, Tillerson said the Trump administration was willing to engage "moderate" Taliban officials to reach a political solution to end America's longest war.
