Obama leaves Iraq after brief visit

BAGHDAD - US President Barack Obama left Baghdad after a brief, previously unannounced visit to Baghdad late Tuesday evening.

Obama had spent some four hours in Baghdad, meeting with US forces while also holding talks with Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The visit to Baghdad, previously undisclosed for security reasons, had followed the US president’s eight-day tour through Europe which had included the G20 meetings in London, the NATO summit in France and Germany, the EU-US summit in Prague and a two-day visit to Turkey.