Gates meets with leaders in Iraq

Baghdad: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Thursday to warn the country's leaders that they must move faster on reconciliation legislation because US patience is limited.

Gates also wants to look at a key piece of the Bush administration's new anti-insurgency strategy, a joint US-Iraq security post where American and Iraq forces live and work together in an attempt to stop violence in Baghdad.

Gates said, "The clock is ticking. I know it's difficult, and clearly the attack on the council of representatives has made people nervous, but I think that it's very important that they bend every effort to getting this legislation done as quickly as possible."

A suicide bomber infiltrated the parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone a week ago, dealing a blow to the US-led effort to ease violence on the capital's streets.

Gates, travelling to Iraq for the third time in four months, took a decidedly stronger tone this time, reflecting US frustration and the political turmoil in Washington, where US President George W. Bush and Congress are in deadlock over whether to set an end date for the war.

He said the Iraqis must quickly push through legislation on political reconciliation and the sharing of oil revenues among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.

He said, "It's not that these laws are going to change the situation immediately, but I think the ability to get them done communicates a willingness to work together."