Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, was expected to invite Pope Benedict XVI to visit his country during talks scheduled later Friday, Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican said according to DPA. The meeting, the first between the two, was set to take place at around noon (1000 GMT) at the pontiff's Castel Gandolfo summer residence in the hills south of Rome. Iraq's ambassador to the Vatican, Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, said al-Maliki would brief the pontiff on the latest developments in Iraq, including efforts by the Shiite Muslim-dominated government to improve security in the country, The Iraqi premier would also extend an invitation to Benedict to visit Iraq, "as soon as the security situation improves," Yelda was quoted as saying by the Rome-based newspaper L'Occidentale.
