MOSUL, Iraq, December 05, SPA -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Wednesday to assess the progress that has been made in recent months since the buildup of U.S. forces began to take hold and reduceviolence in some parts of the country. Making his sixth trip to the battlefront in a year, Gatesplanned to talk to Gen. David Petraeus, the top militarycommander in Iraq, and also meet with Iraqi Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki. He was last in Iraq around Labor Day, in a joint surprisevisit with U.S. President George W. Bush. «Secretary Gates is here to see for himself theconsiderable progress that has been made since his lastvisit nearly three months ago now, just before Gen. Petraeus offered his assessment of the situation to theAmerican people,» said Pentagon press secretary GeoffMorrell, who is traveling with Gates. Morrell was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that Gates wants to «get their take on the situation and to see what more they can do to capitalize on the gains that have been made since the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq.»--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/506329