US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates paid a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday to push Baghdad toward faster reconciliation amid widespread claims of falling violence in the country.
But as Gates began his visit, eight people were killed by three car bombs, one in the main northern city of Mosul where he landed from Afghanistan before heading on to Baghdad. A car bomb also exploded in Kabul on Tuesday and killed 12 people.
His Iraq visit came 10 days after US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki agreed on a long-term US military presence in Iraq that would go beyond next year.
"Secretary Gates is here [in Iraq] to see for himself the considerable progress that has made since his last visit nearly three months ago," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
He will be meeting Iraqi leaders including both Maliki and President Jalal Talabani "to get a take on the situation and see what more can they can do to capitalize on the gains made since the surge of US forces in Iraq," Morrell said.
A US defense official traveling with Gates said the secretary was expected to urge the Iraqi leaders to quickly pass key legislation aimed at boosting reconciliation.
"They'll talk about the large negotiations that are going to take place next year to negotiate a bilateral strategic framework between our two countries ... going from Chapter 7 UN mission to a more normalized security relationship between our countries," the official said.
"He will continue to discuss with Prime Minister Maliki taking advantage of the circumstances afforded by a diminished security threat to move forward on reconciliation, pass laws on hydrocarbon agreement, de-Baathification," the official said.
Washington sees the passing of the two bills -- stalled in parliament -- as key to woo the disenchanted Sunni Arab former elite away from the anti-US insurgency.
The oil and gas bill would guarantee that receipts are shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces -- a key concern for Sunnis worried that they could be monopolized by Kurds and Shiites in a looser federation.
The de-Baathification law would rehabilitate mid-level officials of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Baath party not implicated in the crimes of his regime.
Gates is also expected to discuss the issue of detainees held in US-run prisons in Iraq. As many as 26,000 Iraqis are in these prisons, most of them Sunni Arabs.
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