US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Saturday, arriving as American and Iraqi troops make early gains in a new crackdown against militants in the Iraqi capital.
BAGHDAD: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday lauded early progress in a military operation against militants in Baghdad, but said Iraqis had to use this "breathing space" to push ahead with reconciliation.
Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad as U.S. and Iraqi troops make early gains in an offensive seen as a final push to end sectarian bloodshed that threatens to tear Iraq apart.
"They are off to a good start," said Rice, referring to Operation Imposing Law. "How the Iraqis use the breathing space that might provide is what is really important," she told reporters.
While major car bombings and death squad killings in Baghdad have declined, a double car bombing on Saturday at a crowded market in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 10 people and wounded 60, police sources said.
The explosions took place in the Rahim Awa district, a predominantly Kurdish area of the ethnically mixed city.
Rice said Iraq's leaders needed to speed up efforts to reconcile warring groups, finalise an oil revenue sharing law and hold provincial elections.
Rice said she would press those issues during meetings with Shi''ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.
"The wait for progress can''t be endless. Those (issues) need to move along more quickly," said Rice, who last month said the Iraqi government was on "borrowed time". Rice arrived in Baghdad a day after the U.S. House of Representatives denounced President George W. Bush''s decision to send more troops to help with the Baghdad sweep operation. The move was a symbolic challenge to Bush''s unpopular war.
The Bush administration faces growing opposition at home over a four-year war that has killed more than 3,100 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.
U.S. and Iraqi forces sweeping through Baghdad have encountered little resistance so far.
Shi'ite officials have warned that failure of the operation could mean a collapse of Maliki''s government. Maliki told Bush on Friday that the effort had been a "brilliant success" so far.
"The Baghdad security plan is just beginning to unfold and I think it is important to realise it was not ever intended to be a single day, but to ramp up over time," Rice said.
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