Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Thursday to visit U.S. soldiers and meet with Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Biden will press Iraqi leaders to make more progress toward political reconciliation, the White House said. It was his first trip to Iraq as vice president.

Bombings killed at least three people Thursday in the Baghdad area. It was the first significant violence in the capital since the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas earlier this week. The Defense Ministry said 168 bases and military sites have been handed over to the Iraqis.

At least 447 Iraqi civilians were killed in June, double the toll from the previous month, but the number of casualties is still far lower than previous years. In the first six months of this year, war-related violence killed at least 1,902 Iraqis, compared with 4,809 killed in the first six months of 2008, according to an Associated Press tally.

From wire reports

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