(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-15 17:18

BAGHDAD -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit on Tuesday for talks with Iraqi leaders, US embassy said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice takes a sip of her strawberry juice as Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan looks on during a visit by US President George W. Bush January 14, 2008 in Dubai. [Agencies]

"I can confirm that Miss Rice is in Baghdad by now," an official in the US embassy in Baghdad told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Rice flew from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while she was accompanying US President George W. Bush in his Middle East tour.  

Her trip aimed at meeting with Iraqi leaders to build up what Bush's administration sees a progress on national reconciliation efforts.

On Saturday, the Iraqi parliament passed a controversial law on reinstatement of former Saddam's Baath Party members to government jobs.

The parliament passed the Accountability and Justice bill to replace the de-Baathification law, which banned Saddam's supporters from participating in the public life in the country after the collapse of Saddam's regime by a US-led coalition in 2003.