The security is there, it's much better, it's going to continue to evolve," Adm Mike Mullen said yesterday in an Associated Press interview after a walking tour of this recent combat zone. But if local political reform falters "or the

Abdullah was to be the first Arab head of state to travel to Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003. The trip would have further eased Iraq's diplomatic isolation from its Sunni Arab neighbours. "We were informed by the Jordanians

It was the first time that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable — an idea opposed by President Bush. He offered no details. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated