Baghdad, July 29, SPA -- Violence continued unabated across Iraq as US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates toured the country on Tuesday and met with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. Gates' unscheduled stop in the country came after visits to Israel and Jordan, according to a report of the German News Agency "DPA". In Iraq, Gates met with Iraqi and US military officers in thejoint Iraqi-US military base of Talil, near the southern Iraqi cityof al-Nasiriyah. Gates hailed the soldiers' cooperation in securingthe city as a model of US forces' new role in the country. Gates' arrival was the second visit by a top US official toIraq since US troops withdrew from urban areas. Vice President Joe Biden celebrated US Independence Day with his country's troops on July 4 in Iraq. Gates, whose last visit to Iraq was in September 2008, wasexpected to visit Iraq's Kurdish region on Monday evening, and tomeet with Masoud Barzani, incumbent president of the Kurdistansemi-autonomous region.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/688486