(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-02 22:33

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his arrival in Baghdad March 2, 2008. [Agencies]

BAGHDAD - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed a new chapter in ties with Iraq on Sunday, saying he was "truly happy" to make a landmark trip to Baghdad now that Iran's arch-foe Saddam Hussein had been deposed.

Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian president to go to Iraq since Saddam launched a ruinous eight-year war on Iran in 1980 in which a million people died. He is also the first leader from the region to visit since the US-led invasion in 2003.

His trip to a country where its long-time enemy the United States has more than 150,000 troops is therefore as much about symbolism as about cementing economic and cultural ties between the neighbors, both run by Shi'ite majorities.

Ahmadinejad rejected long-standing US accusations, repeated by President George W. Bush on Saturday, that Iran is arming Shi'ite militias in Iraq who kill American soldiers.

"We tell Mr. Bush that accusing others without evidence will increase the problems in the region and will not solve them," Ahmadinejad said in translated remarks at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"The Iraqi people do not like America," he said.

Ahmadinejad said at an earlier news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that his visit would open a new chapter in relations with Iraq and help regional cooperation.

"A visit to Iraq without the dictator is a truly happy one," he said, referring to Saddam, who was executed by the Iraqi government in December 2006.

Ironically, his trip was only made possible by the US-led invasion. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for US forces to leave Iraq, blaming them for sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since 2003.

Analysts say Iran seeks a stable Iraq but at the same time wants to make life difficult for occupying American forces.

"A developed, powerful and united Iraq is to the advantage of everyone," said Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Many of Iraq's Shi'ite leaders were in exile in Iran during Saddam's long rule and analysts say Ahmadinejad will use his visit to show Washington that Tehran is an influential player in Iraq that cannot be ignored.

SANCTIONS

The Iranian president has sought to counter US efforts to isolate Tehran internationally over its nuclear program by trying to improve ties with Arab states in the region.

His visit comes a day before an expected UN Security Council vote on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes but the United States says is for nuclear arms.

US officials in Baghdad have said they will play no role in Ahmadinejad's visit and that the US military will not be involved in protecting him unless they are asked for help.

Ahmadinejad's motorcade drove from Baghdad's airport to Talabani's presidential palace. Visiting foreign dignitaries normally fly by helicopter to avoid the dangerous airport road.

And unlike the strict secrecy that surrounds Bush's unannounced visits to reduce the risk of an attack, Ahmadinejad's trip has been well-publicized.

Also, unlike Bush, he will be spending the night.

Ahmadinejad received a red carpet welcome at the presidential palace, with a military band greeting him. He met Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi as well as Maliki and Talabani.

A noticeable absence from the welcoming party was Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a member of Iraq's minority Sunni Arab community that was dominant under Saddam.

Scattered protests were held in Baghdad and towns with sizeable Sunni Arab populations against Ahmadinejad's visit, witnesses said.

Talabani said Iraq would seek to oust Iranian rebels based in Iraq, a long-time Iranian demand that was expected to be raised during Ahmadinejad's two-day state visit.

"The presence of those terrorists is forbidden by the constitution and we are working to get rid of them," he said.

Provincial officials in the southern cities of Kerbala and Najaf, home to several of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites that draw millions of pilgrims, said they were expecting a visit by Ahmadinejad on Monday.

That leg of his trip has not been officially confirmed.