Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

France's Holland starts official visit to Iraq

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • f74df506-
    Image 1 of 3

    Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, left, greets French President Francois Hollande prior to their meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. Hollande is in Iraq for a one-day visit. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool) (The Associated Press)

  • 66f824ce-
    Image 2 of 3

    Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, right, greets French President Francois Hollande prior to their meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. Hollande is in Iraq for a one-day visit. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool) (The Associated Press)

  • 077607bc-
    Image 3 of 3

    Iraqi President Fuad Masum, right, and his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, attend a joint news conference after their meeting at the presidential palace in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. Hollande is in Iraq for a one-day visit. French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stands at left. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool) (The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD – French President Francois Hollande has arrived in Iraq amid a fierce fight against the Islamic State group.

During his one-day visit which started on Monday, Hollande is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in the capital, Baghdad. Later, he'll travel to the country's self-governing northern Kurdish region to meet French troops and local officials.

The visit comes as Iraqi troops, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are fighting IS in a massive operation to retake the northern city of Mosul.

France is part of the U.S.-led international coalition formed in late 2014 to fight IS after the extremist group seized large areas in Iraq and neighboring Syria and declaring an Islamic "caliphate." Like some European countries, France has suffered terrorist attacks claimed by IS.