Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday for an unannounced visit during which he said he would stress the importance of “Iraqi sovereignty” and broach the issue of the future of US troops there.

“We are in Iraq at the invitation of the government and our interests are to build Iraqi security capability,” Shanahan told reporters traveling with him on his first trip to Iraq.

“I want to hear first-hand from them about concerns, the political dynamics that they are facing and then based on that we will obviously factor that into our planning.”

Shanahan is to meet leaders including Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and will also discuss the withdrawal of US troops from Syria with US commanders.

Source: Reuters