Iraqi officials discuss peace initiatives

BAGHDAD, April 30 (UPI) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani met First Vice President Adel Adb al-Mahdi Wednesday to discuss security issues and political reconciliation measures.

Talabani, a Kurd with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Mahdi, a Shiite with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, met at the presidential residence in Baghdad to discuss a variety of diplomatic issues, including the pending return of several ministers to the Iraqi government, Voices of Iraq said.

The Sunni coalition Iraqi Accordance Front withdrew from the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in August over disputes over detained IAF members. The group signaled recently it would return its five ministers to the central government, however.

The offices of Talabani and Mahdi issued a joint statement saying they also discussed the security crisis plaguing Iraq recently and reviewed their ties with neighboring countries.

In related news, VOI sources in Sadr City said the U.S. military withdrew its forces from an educational facility used as a barracks for the past month.