United States President George Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday, just a week before his top officials in Baghdad present pivotal testimony to Congress that could influence future policy on the war.
The White House said Bush had arrived at the al-Asad Air Force base, west of Baghdad in Anbar province. He was accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Steven Hadley. Defence Secretary Robert Gates was also there, officials said.
The stopover in Iraq had not been announced previously by the White House. Bush is on his way to a meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Sydney.
Bush is under mounting pressure from opposition Democrats and some senior Republicans who want US troops to start leaving Iraq after more than four years of war in which 3 700 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed.
The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker will appear before Congress on September 10.
They will give their assessment on the impact of Bush’s decision to send an extra 30 000 extra troops to Iraq.
The US strategy has benefited from a rebellion by Sunni Arab tribal leaders against al-Qaeda, especially in Anbar. In his testimony, Petraeus will likely highlight the success in pacifying restive Anbar, once considered lost to Sunni Arab insurgents and the most dangerous place in Iraq for US troops.
The White House is required to submit its own report on the situation in Iraq by September 15.
Bush is under pressure to show Iraq’s weak and divided Shi’ite-led government that the US commitment is not open-ended. However, he has pleaded for patience and cited progress in recent months after a reduction in militant attacks.
Earlier, British troops quit the Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, leaving the southern oil hub without British forces for the first time since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The withdrawal from the besieged Basra Palace complex, under daily mortar and rocket fire by Shi’ite militias, is a step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and an eventual British pull-out from Iraq. – Reuters