Rice and Rumsfeld visit Iraq and meet leaders

THE US government dispatched its top two foreign policy officials to Iraq yesterday in a dramatic show of support for the country’s emerging government.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met with Iraqi leaders including Jawad al-Maliki, the Shi'ite selected to be prime minister in a development the US hailed as evidence of substantial progress.

"I came away most encouraged," Mr Rumsfeld said after a private meeting with Mr al-Maliki.