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With sectarian violence continuing across southern Iraq, the United States should work to build bridges with the more stable Kurdish north, Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning said while visiting the region Wednesday.

Speaking by phone from Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan Region, Bruning said the first two days of a weeklong stay have shown him a pro-American and economically thriving region that needs more US support.

"There is a country here that's very friendly to us, and it's in our interest to have good relations with Kurds," Bruning said. "We need all the allies we can get in this part of the world."

Bruning arrived in Iraq early Monday on a trip organized by Oregon State Sen. Jason Atkinson and funded by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Also making the trip are former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and several Oregon businessmen.

Kurdish officials hope the trip helps forge bonds between their burgeoning government and political and business leaders in America, Bruning said.

"This is not what you or I imagine from Iraq. It's not a war-torn or destroyed place," he said. "The purpose of the trip is for the Kurds to point out to our state leaders that there is a different part of Iraq."

Bruning said he has met with the Kurdish foreign, planning and agriculture ministers and plans to meet with the region's prime minister later this week.

Earlier this week, the group toured a Saddam Hussein-era torture facility and visited the city of Suleimaniah, near the Iranian border. Bruning plans to return to Nebraska this weekend.