Amid tight security, Prime Minister John Howard paid a surprise visit yesterday to Australian troops in Iraq for an emotion-charged dawn service honoring soldiers who fought and died in an ill-fated World War I campaign.
Wearing camouflaged body armor with the word "Howard" handwritten on the front and with his suit jacket draped over his arm, the prime minister flew into Baghdad in a military Hercules transport plane for the service, which was attended by the commander of coalition ground forces, US General Ricardo Sanchez.
In video images released by Australia's Defense Department, Howard looked relaxed as heavily armed troops greeted his plane and ushered him into a waiting car that whisked him to the airport's air traffic control center.
PHOTO: AFP
Howard said afterward he had never before heard the sound of automatic gunfire crackling in the background during a service on Anzac Day, which commemorates troops who fought with the Australia New Zealand Army Corps in World War I's Gallipoli campaign.
"Well, it's certainly the most moving Anzac Day dawn service I've been to in many respects," he said. "There's an immediacy about this."
He brushed off the danger of his trip into the heart of the war-torn nation, saying Australian forces were at far more peril.
"They take enormous risk; it's a small risk I take," he said.
Earlier, Howard's office released a statement saying the visit was ``in recognition of the great sacrifice and contribution Australian personnel are making there in challenging conditions.''
While the visit was officially to boost morale of Australia's troops, it also will likely be seen as an attempt to bolster Howard's chances of victory at elections due by late this year in which his conservative coalition is seeking a fourth term.
Labor leader Mark Latham, who opposed sending troops to Iraq and vowed to bring them back if he win elections, would not be drawn into a discussion of the visit.
"Anzac Day should be above politics so I hope he has a safe visit there and back," Latham said. "They've got our support, we always support our troops. Our argument is with government policy."
A total of 1 million men fought in the nine-month, British-led Gallipoli campaign Anzac Day commemorates. The Allies recorded 55,000 killed, 10,000 missing and 21,000 dead of disease. Turkish casualties were about 250,000.
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