US Defense Secretary Gates in Iraq after week of deadly bombings

Baghdad: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Iraq to meet with Iraqi officials amid a wave of bombings that have claimed 127 lives and rattled the country's government.

Gates and Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki met for about 45 minutes on Friday morning.

US officials said the meeting was similar to one a day earlier between Gates and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in which Gates expressed his condolences for Tuesday's bombing and offered any assistance Iraq might need.

The second leg of Gates' unannounced tour of two major US war zones came as Al Qaida's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility Thursday for the strikes.

Senior US military officials defended the Iraqi forces' efforts even after Al Maliki expressed his displeasure by dismissing his head of security operations.