BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki embarks on a trip to the United States on Tuesday grappling with strained ties with Washington and pressure over stalled national reconciliation efforts.
Maliki will meet President Barack Obama for the first time since US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June, a milestone in Iraq's rehabilitation since the 2003 US-led invasion.
He has been keen to stress the early success of Iraq's security forces since the US pullback, but relations with Washington have hit a bump over Baghdad's failure to improve relations between its Shiite, Sunni and Kurd communities.
Maliki is also hoping to drum up investment for a country in dire need of rebuilding after years of sanctions and war.
"His visit is an opportunity to make progress on questions (regarding security), and to discuss economic, industrial and education cooperation," Ali Moussawi, one of Maliki's advisors, told AFP.
But he added: "The prime minister is telling all those who visit Iraq that he rejects their intervention in internal Iraqi affairs."
The White House said the talks would focus on "the continuing security challenges that we have to be mindful of," but also the political engagement that is seen as key for Iraq's long-term stability.
"We want to make sure we continue to keep the focus on... the political engagement that has to happen to see that necessary progress," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday.
Maliki kicks off his visit with talks on Tuesday with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon likely to focus on a dispute over multi-billion-dollar reparations for Kuwait stemming from the 1990 invasion ordered by then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Iraq wants the UN Security Council to accept that it no longer poses a threat to international security, but Kuwait is insisting the reparations should be paid in full.
Maliki, who is travelling with a delegation including Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, Defence Minister Abdel Qader Obeidi and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, will hold talks with Obama in the White House on Wednesday, before discussions with foreign companies on investment in Iraq.
The visit is likely to be dominated by what Maliki has described as the "new phase" of relations with the United States and American pressure for Baghdad to speed up the stalled national reconciliation process.
On a trip to Baghdad earlier this month, US Vice President Joe Biden urged Iraqi leaders to make more progress on reconciliation between the Shiite, Sunni and Kurd communities.
But the Iraqi government refused a US offer to intervene, describing the process as an internal matter and warned that outside interference could cause additional problems.
Plans for national reconciliation centre around the status of the disputed oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk, and the integration of former members of now-executed Saddam's Baath Party.
Diplomats and lawmakers have warned that the dispute between the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities over areas including Kirkuk, which neither is willing to compromise over, could lead to conflict.
Progress is also slow on proposals on integrating former Baathists back into the political arena after US authorities launched a de-Baathification programme immediately after the overthrow of Saddam's Sunni regime.
Maliki is also keen to promote trade and investment ties with the United States in a bid to strengthen Iraq's war-ravaged economy, which then-deputy prime minister Barham Saleh said in May had been hammered further by the global economic downturn.
Iraq's economy is dominated by oil production, which provides around 85 percent of all government revenue, but its infrastructure is outdated, a result of decades of under-investment and sanctions.
Iraq is aiming to bolster its airborne resources to reduce its dependence on the United States for logistical support for transporting troops and equipment across the country.
Although the 130,000 US troops in Iraq have largely left Iraq's urban areas, Maliki said last month that American air capacity would be crucial to support local forces in ensuring security.
Under the so-called Status of Forces Agreement signed last November, all US troops must leave Iraq by the end of 2011.