U.S. President Joe Biden held a call on Wednesday with Iraq's caretaker prime minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, after violence this week in Baghdad, the White House said.
"The President commended Prime Minister Kadhimi’s personal leadership during escalating tensions and violence over a 24-hour period earlier this week," the White House said in a statement after their call, adding the two leaders agreed to stay in touch in the coming weeks. Baghdad saw its worst fighting for years this week as rival Shi'ite Muslim groups battled in the capital after powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr announced he was leaving politics.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington)
