US Secretary of State Colin Powell today made a surprise visit to Baghdad a day after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Powell is the most senior US official to visit since the handover of sovereignty on June 28th. His deputy Mr Richard Armitage visited Iraq earlier this month.
Details of former army general's itinerary have not been released, but his unannounced arrival will be seen as a show of strength in the face heightened militancy in recent weeks.
Guerrillas have recently stepped up suicide car bombings, assassinations and kidnappings in an effort to undermine Mr Allawi and the US-led coalition.
Iraq's interim government is heavily reliant on some 160,000 foreign troops, around 140,000 of which are American.
