BAGHDAD, Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Iraq on Sunday for a visit likely to focus on U.S. troop levels and a pact that will define future relations between Washington and Baghdad. Gates is visiting Baghdad a year after a U.S.-Iraqi security offensive was launched with the aid of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops to halt the country's slide into all-out sectarian war. Security has improved in recent months, allowing the U.S. military to start withdrawing troops. Gates has said he hoped drawdowns could be carried out throughout the year.
An honour guard march under Iraq's new flag (centre) after it was raised for the first time in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, February 10, 2008. A ...
