BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad entered Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday, an official in Maliki's office said.
"The two leaders are in a meeting as we speak," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The two Shiite leaders were holding talks at Maliki's office less than two kilometres (one mile) from the US embassy which is also in the Green Zone.
Ahmadinejad was driven to the Green Zone after meeting his counterpart Iraqi President Jalal Talabani soon after his arrival in Baghdad for a two-day visit.
The Iranian president's convoy drove along a two-kilometre stretch of road that was heavily secured by Kurdish peshmerga forces, from Talabani's residence outside the Green Zone to the gate of the heavily guarded area.
Security for the Green Zone is provided by the US-led coalition and by Iraqi forces.
But on Sunday, American military officials said they were not involved in security measures for Ahmadinejad, adding that everything was being handled by the Iraqis.
The Iranian president is in Iraq for a two-day visit aimed at boosting economic and political relations between the two Muslim neighbours who fought a bitter eight-year war in the 1980s.
It is the first visit by an Iranian president to Iraq and comes at a time when the US military is occupying the country and Washington, as the main power-broker, is keen to curb the influence of Shiite Iran on Maliki's government.
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