Shafaq News / The Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, commended Pope Francis's visit to Iraq, hoping that the visit would promote peace that Iraq and all the peoples of the region need.

" Welcome to His Holiness Pope Francis in the Levant, the land that has always been the intersection of civilizations, religions and cultures. We hope that this visit will give momentum to real peace, much needed by the Iraqi people & other peoples of the region.," Aoun said in a statement.

Earlier today, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, received Pope Francis upon his arrival at Baghdad International Airport.

The Pope will visit Baghdad, Najaf (where he will meet the leading spiritual leader of Iraqi Shia Muslims, Ali al-Sistani), Ur city in Nasiriyah, Nineveh, and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region.

He is currently in the Iraqi presidential palace, where an official welcoming ceremony is being held, provided that he will also meet with representatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps.