BAGHDAD - Britain's new defence secretary, John Reid, was on a one-day visit to Iraq Tuesday to meet Iraqi counterpart Saadun al-Dulaimi and visit British troops in the south of the country, officials said.
The former health secretary, who took over the defence portfolio in Prime Minister Tony Blair's new government earlier this month, and Dulaimi discussed Britain's role in helping rebuilt the Iraqi army, the defence ministry said.
Dulaimi was himself only named defence minister on May 8.
Earlier in the day, the British Foreign Office reaffirmed in a statement that "the United Kingdom will continue to provide troops for as long as the Iraqi government wants us to remain".
Britain, which was Washington's closest ally in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, still has around 8,000 troops in the country, mainly based around the southern port city of Basra.
05/17/2005 13:14 GMT