In Iraq visit, U.S. general eyes longer-term Islamic State threat

FILE PHOTO: General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. military's Central Command, speaks aboard the USS New Orleans as it travels through the Strait of Hormuz July 11, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Stewart/File Photo

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The general overseeing U.S. forces in the Middle East flew into Iraq on Sunday for talks with U.S. and Iraqi officials expected to focus on ensuring that Islamic State cannot stage a resurgence after U.S. troops withdraw from neighbouring Syria.

U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, made no remarks to reporters upon landing in Iraq, where he was expected to get battlefield briefings on the final push to retake the remnants of Islamic State's once vast territory in Syria.