Obama meets Iraqi PM in Baghdad

US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has met the Iraqi prime minister on his first visit to Baghdad as part of a major foreign tour.

Obama has advocated pulling out US combat troops within 16 months if elected president in November.

Earlier, in Kabul, Obama said the battle against terrorism had to focus on the situation in Afghanistan.

However, US commanders, and some members of the Iraqi government, are opposed to setting any timetables.

Obama held talks with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki shortly after arriving as part of a US Congressional delegation.

He is also due to meet President Jalal Talabani as well as the top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, and others.

While advocating the withdrawal of combat troops, Obama says he is prepared to be flexible on details, and could leave some troops behind for special tasks, such as training Iraqi forces and tackling remnants of the al-Qaeda in Iraq group.The Illinois senator is visiting a series of countries over the next week in an attempt to bolster his foreign policy and security credentials.

He is also due to visit Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the UK.

No details were immediately available of Obama's talks with Maliki. The two met in Baghdad's heavily-protected Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government.