Rice sent to oversee Iraqi reforms
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Iraq to press for political reconciliation.
Last week, the Iraqi government passed the first in a series of laws aimed at bridging the sectarian divide.
The White House has confired Ms Rice has been sent to Baghdad by President George W Bush on a mission to build on that process.
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "President Bush and Secretary Rice decided this would be a good opportunity for the Secretary to go to Baghdad to build on progress made and to encourage additional political reconciliation and legislative action."
Washington wants the Iraqi government to show it serves all Iraqis, not just the Shia and Kurdish communities that dominate the administration.
Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc has said it is ready to return to the cabinet in an effort to revive the national unity government that collapsed last year.
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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