Australian premier visits Iraq troops

Amid tight security, Prime Minister John Howard paid a surprise visit today to Australian troops in Iraq for an emotion-charged dawn service honouring soldiers who fought and died in an ill-fated First World War campaign.

Wearing camouflaged body armour with the word “Howard” handwritten on the front and with his suit jacket draped over his arm, the prime minister flew into Baghdad in a military Hercules transport plane for the service.