Arab league chief concerned about Iraq developments, calls for calm

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday expressed his growing concern about the successive developments in Iraq and called for calm, the organization said in a statement.

"The region is currently in a dire need of calm, not escalation and extinguishing conflicts, not igniting and perpetuating them," the statement quoted Aboul Gheit as saying.

The call came after a U.S. drone strike on Friday at Baghdad airport killed Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran's drive to extend its influence across the region, and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.