Washington - US President Barack Obama called for greater reconciliation between Iraq's ethnic groups during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki at the White House on Wednesday.

Coming to agreements on contentious issues is essential to a unified Iraq and its stability in the future as US forces increasingly turn responsibility for security over to the Iraqis, Obama said.

"Iraq will be more secure and more successful if there is a place for all Iraqi citizens to thrive, including all of Iraq's ethnic and religious groups," Obama said.

Obama has in the past expressed frustrations over the slow pace of reconciliation between Iraqi Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites, and in developing a plan to distribute oil revenues to regional governments, even as the security environment has improved dramatically.(dpa)