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Obama meets in Ramadi with Sunni groups fighting insurgents | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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BAGHDAD (AP) – Presidential contender Barack Obama is wrapping up his Iraq stop with meetings among Sunni tribal leaders who have joined U.S. and Iraqi forces in the fight against insurgents.

Obama traveled to Ramadi, capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad, to meet Tuesday with Sunni leaders of the so-called Awakening Councils that rose up last year against al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The movement is credited with uprooting militants in Anbar and helping regain control of a former hotbed of the insurgency.

A spokesman for Anbar province, Jamal Mashedani, says Obama’s talks included further efforts to battle al-Qaeda in Iraq. He did not elaborate and a U.S. Embassy official did not give details of the meeting. Obama is scheduled to travel next to Jordan.