A leading Sunni, Rafi al-Essawi, recently resigned his post as finance minister to protest Mr. Maliki’s reluctance to share power with Sunni leaders. A warrant has been issued for Mr. Essawi’s arrest — on accusations that he has links to terrorists, which senior American officials have denied — and he has reportedly sought refuge with Sunni tribes in Anbar Province.
Mr. Kerry did not specifically discuss Mr. Essawi’s case with Mr. Maliki, but he did have a broad conversation with the prime minister about human rights concerns, aides said.
The trip comes as American influence in the country has begun to recede. The former defense secretary Leon E. Panetta told the United States’ special inspector general on Iraq reconstruction that the withdrawal of American forces in 2011 had limited Washington’s influence over Mr. Maliki, according to a report issued this month by the inspector general.
Ryan Crocker, the former American ambassador in Baghdad, has urged the Obama administration to step up its engagement with Iraqi leaders. “What it is time for,” Mr. Crocker told a conference at the Carnegie Endowment on International Peace last week, is “sustained engagement.”
Aides to Mr. Kerry said that was one purpose of his trip.
Articles Appeared @http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/baghdad-kerry-iraq-arms-shipments-to-syria.html?hp