Biden to meet Kurdish officials in unannounced visit to Erbil

Reuters

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit on Thursday to Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, to show support for the Kurdish government. The Pentagon announced last week it would provide up to $415 million to Kurdish peshmerga forces, who have played an important role in pushing back Islamic State in northern Iraq. Erbil is also locked in disputes with Baghdad over an oil revenue-sharing deal and the region's contested borders including, around the oil city of Kirkuk. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Andrew Roche)