Sandstorm grounds US military boss in Iraq
BAGHDAD, July 13 (Reuters) - A sandstorm grounded Admiral Mike Mullen, the U.S. military's senior commander, in the restive city of Kirkuk on Monday during a visit to Iraq.
The sandstorm delayed plans for Mullen, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, to travel to other parts of Iraq after he touched down in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad.
As the sectarian bloodshed that tore Iraq apart in 2006 and 2007 ebbs across most of the country, Kirkuk, home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, remains riven by violence.
Police say major recent attacks in Kirkuk, including two bombs last month that killed 100 people between them, may have already stoked reprisal killings.
The oil-producing northern region is at the heart of a feud between Arabs and minority Kurds, who want to fold Kirkuk into their northern enclave.
The United States is hoping local security forces can rein in such attacks as U.S. combat forces take an increasingly secondary role. On June 30, U.S. combat troops pulled out of city and town centres, a milestone in the plan to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
Iraq has suffered severe sand and dust storms in recent weeks. One of the worst storms in living memory, which lasted a week, stymied U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's plans to travel to northern Kurdistan during his visit to Iraq this month. (Reporting by Andrew Gray; writing by Missy Ryan)
