U.S. President Obama in Afghanistan for unannounced visit

[News_Editor]

U.S. President Obama in Afghanistan for unannounced visit

2010-12-03 23:56:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on late Friday on an unannounced trip to the war-torn country for meetings and to greet U.S. troops there.

Air Force One landed at Bagram Air Base at about 8.35 p.m. local time after which Obama embarked from the aircraft in a leather jacket. He was greeted by General David Petreaus and Ambassador Eikenberry.

The U.S. President was at first scheduled to fly by helicopter from Bagram Air Base to Kabul, where he was supposed to have a working dinner with Afghan President Karzai and greet staff at the U.S. Embassy there. However, bad weather forced the White House Military Office to cancel the plan and instead scheduled a 30 to 40 minute secure video conference call between Obama and Karzai.

After the call, Obama went to a hospital at the base and met with eight patients, five soldiers and three civilian contractors. There, Obama awarded four Purple Hearts.

Later, Obama was to address a couple thousand troops in a hangar at Bagram Air Base - most of them from the 101st Division. The speech was being aired live on American television and, after it concluded, Obama was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C.

The visit in all will have lasted only about three hours, which is about half the amount of time that was originally scheduled before bad weather canceled most of the plans. It is Obama's second trip to Afghanistan as president.

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