Rice Makes A Surprise Trip to Iraq

Asked how long U.S. troops might be present here, Rice said that although she was impressed with the progress Iraqi security forces have made, the United States would need to "help Iraq defend itself until it can defend itself."

"We talked about the need to accelerate the training and capacity of the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi armed forces," she said, noting that the recent spate of attacks showed the government was fighting a "very tough" opponent.

It was Rice's first trip to Baghdad since she accompanied President Bush on a similarly unannounced visit in 2003 for Thanksgiving. She had planned to visit the country in March, but was forced to cancel when word of the trip leaked, leaving her deeply disappointed, according to Jim Wilkinson, a senior adviser.

To preserve secrecy this time, only three members of the news media were permitted to accompany Rice: reporters for the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse wire services. They were told about the trip the day before they departed, they said, and were instructed to tell only their direct editors and bureau chiefs.

After Rice landed at Camp Doha, a U.S. base in Qatar, the flight crew that took her into Iraq did not know she was on board, Wilkinson said.

Rice traveled to the northern city of Irbil for a meeting with Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

She flew on to Baghdad, where she lunched with top U.S. generals, then addressed troops and embassy staff in the Green Zone before a series of meetings with Iraqi officials.

Among the officials was Ahmed Chalabi, a deputy prime minister, whose once-close relationship with the United States soured after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when intelligence that he and associates had provided about alleged Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction proved groundless.

At an evening news conference, Rice and Jafari both said the government must improve basic services such as electricity and other infrastructure. She expressed confidence that despite difficulty forging cooperation among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups, the government would meet the Aug. 15 deadline for the drafting of a constitution.

"Every time the Iraqi people have been presented with a deadline, they've met it," she said.

But she urged the world to be patient as Iraq struggles to improve its political and security climate.

"Iraq is emerging from a long national nightmare into freedom. It will take time to repair the damage that the previous regime has done," she said. "Things do not happen overnight."

A ceremony earlier Sunday, marking the opening of the new Iraqi army headquarters, appeared to illustrate the sometimes glacial pace of progress here. U.S. and Iraqi journalists were taken by helicopter to a ribbon-cutting for the building that will house commanders of all Iraqi ground forces.

But reporters were told they could not disclose its location, except to say that it is somewhere in Baghdad, and could not show pictures or reveal names of Iraqi military personnel present except for a commanding general, Abdul Qatar, for fear of assassination attempts.

"They are taking another step towards an independent Iraqi command," said the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, who said the facility would be fully operational in six to 12 months.

The "operations room," which was full of chairs and desks but had only four computers, was named for Iraqi Brig. Gen. Ayad Imad Mahdi, who was killed by gunmen on his way to work Wednesday in Baghdad.

Later, in a series of interviews with U.S. and Arab news media, Rice warned Iraq's neighbors not to be disruptive.

"Iran is a neighbor. And I would hope that there will be good relations between Iran and Iraq," she said when asked by a CNN correspondent about Iran's close ties to Shiite leaders here.

"But they need to be transparent, neighborly relations, not relations that try somehow to have undue influence in the country through means that are not transparent," she said.

In an interview with two newspaper reporters, Rice had more-pointed words for Syria, urging its government to clamp down on terrorist activities and make a "full pullout" from Lebanon. Syria withdrew its last troops from Lebanon in April after a 30-year presence, but U.S., U.N. and European officials say it continues to maintain an intelligence presence there.

Rice said Syria should also stop supporting what she called "Palestinian rejectionists," a reference to residents of the West Bank and Gaza who oppose continued peace talks with Israel.

"Syrians need to take a look at where they are and get in step with the region," she said.

Special correspondents Omar Fekeiki, Bassam Sebti and Naseer Nouri contributed to this report.