Powell makes surprise Baghdad visit

US Secretary of State Colin Powell made an unannounced trip to Baghdad today following talks with Saudi officials on a proposal to form a Muslim force to help stamp out the deadly insurgency in Iraq.

He was to hold talks with top Iraqi officials, including the country’s new president, Ghazi al-Yawer, and deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, before leaving later today.

Powell, the highest-ranking American official to visit since Iraq’s interim government took power on June 28, arrived following meetings with Kuwaiti and Saudi leaders.

A military helicopter flew Powell, who has visited Iraq three times since Saddam Hussein’s overthrow, from Baghdad’s airport to Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone where the US embassy and Iraq’s interim government are housed.

Powell held talks with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, in Saudi yesterday. The premier urged Muslim nations to dispatch troops to Iraq to help defeat an insurgency he said threatens all Islamic countries.