US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is in Baghdad to meet Iraqi leaders and be briefed on the fight against the Islamic State group.
Mr Kushner, the president’s senior adviser, joined US Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Joseph Dunford.
The Marine general said he invited Mr Kushner to hear about the situation on the ground “first-hand and unfiltered”.
He was also travelling on behalf of the president to express his support for Iraq’s government, a spokesman said.
Navy Captain Greg Hicks, Mr Dunford’s spokesman, said during meetings with Iraqi officials 36-year-old Mr Kushner would affirm US commitment to the fight against IS.
Gen Dunford on Monday also said he extended the invite weeks ago to Mr Kushner and Tom Bossert, the president’s homeland security adviser, to help them gain insight into the war.
“I said, ‘Hey, next time I go to Iraq, if you’re interested, come and it’d be good,'” Gen Dunford said.
“The more appreciation you could have for what’s actually happening on the ground, the more informed you are when you start talking about the strategic issues.”
Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, declined to speak to reporters on the plane before his arrival in Iraq on Monday, Reuters news agency reported.
Mr Kushner’s trip comes as Iraqi security forces are working to recapture Mosul, the last key IS stronghold in Iraq.
Nearly 290,000 people have fled the city in the wake of fighting, according to the United Nations.
Mr Kushner is expected later this week to attend meetings with Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Despite his lack of diplomatic, government or military experience, the 36-year-old has a busy schedule in the Trump administration.
The president last week picked him to lead a task force with a remit as wide-ranging as reforming federal bureaucracy and tackling opioid abuse.
Mr Kushner also serves as a shadow diplomat on US relations with the Middle East, Canada and Mexico.
Furthermore, Mr Trump assigned him the role of brokering a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Source: BBC