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| Monday, 26 April 2004 |
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Australian PM makes secret visit to Iraq for national day services SYDNEY, Sunday (AFP) Prime Minister John Howard has flown to Iraq on a secret visit to commemorate national Anzac Day services with Australian troops, it was reported here Sunday. He attended Sunday's dawn service to commemorate the tens of thousands of Australians who have died in war since the 1915 Gallipoli landings during World War I, the Australian Associated Press said. Howard also spent some time talking to troops and other Australian representatives on the ground in Baghdad, according to the report. For security reasons, his first visit to the shattered country since he committed Australian troops to the invasion a year ago was kept secret until he landed in Baghdad, where he is expected to remain until he departs later on Sunday. Australia currently has some 850 troops serving in Iraq, mostly soldiers protecting civilian expatriates or serving as instructors to Iraqi service volunteers, as well as RAAF air traffic controllers at Baghdad airport and naval crews in the Gulf. Howard, who was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the US-led invasion, remains strongly committed to keeping Australian military personnel in the country "until their work is finished." Howard had been listed to appear at the Anzac Day ceremony in Canberra until Sunday morning, when deputy Prime Minister John Anderson arrived as a last-minute replacement. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer alluded to Howard's visit when he made mention on Sunday of the dawn service in Baghdad. "They will have a very special dawn service today and I think that will mean a great deal to them," he said. |
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