Gates in Iraq to meet Maliki and US commanders

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates landed in Baghdad Thursday on an unannounced visit to meet with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq and to consult with American military commanders as they prepare for withdrawals of American forces beginning in the spring.Mr Maliki spent part of Thursday afternoon pleading with lawmakers to set aside political differences that he said were undermining security, according to lawmakers who took part in a special session of Parliament called in the wake of the bombings.Pentagon officials traveling with Mr. Gates and American military officials in Baghdad said that neither the bombings nor the delay of Iraqi national elections until March would alter the plans for withdrawal of more than 50,000 American troops from Iraq next year.