Iraqi president meets Japan's ambassador

Iraqi President Barham Salih met with Japan's ambassador to Iraq on Sunday in Baghdad, and held talks focussing on reconstruction and stability. 

Salih and Naofumi Hashimoto discussed Japan's experience in reconstruction, officials said.

When atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, their unprecedented destructive power incinerated buildings and left lifelong physical and psychological scars on survivors and on the cities themselves.

Iraq's devastation came through different weapons but nonetheless the country is working to rebuild after 16 years of war.

Salih and Hashimoto discussed the need for stability in Iraq as well as the need to respect the will of the Iraqi people and their demands for reform, according to a statement released by the Iraqi president's media office.

The meeting comes at a time of political uncertainty for Iraq amid nearly three months of unprecedented mass protests.

Demonstrators first took to the streets on Oct. 1 to call for the overthrow of Iraq's entire political class over corruption and mismanagement.

More than 450 people have been killed since October, the vast majority of them protesters killed by security forces firing tear gas and live ammunition.