US praises Iraq's security level

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US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said on a visit to Iraq that its security situation has improved "amazingly" in the past three years.

He is in the country to see how US troops are adapting to their new non-combat role since withdrawing from all urban areas at the end of June.

But the BBC correspondent in Baghdad says that there are still daily attacks in many towns and cities.

All American troops are due to leave Iraq by 2011.

Mr Gates began his visit with a speech to troops at a base in the south before travelling to the capital Baghdad to meet Iraqi leaders and US commanders.

He was also due to visit the country's Kurdish region.

Iraq today is a very different place but it is not a peaceful one, the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Baghdad.

US forces continue to patrol in some urban areas, albeit under Iraqi supervision, he adds, and the Pentagon would prefer its troops now to focus on training and supporting Iraqi forces.

'Flexible' deployment

Sectarian violence was raging in Iraq when Mr Gates made his first visit as defence secretary in December 2006.

Nobody's the boss or the occupier Robert Gates US Defence Secretary

Security there now was "amazingly different", he told troops assembled at the Tallil air base.

He told reporters he was impressed by an artillery brigade which had come to Iraq in the spring thinking it would be on the front lines, but quickly adapted to an advisory role.

"This is a symbol of how flexible our forces are," he said.

Describing relations between US and Iraqi forces, he said: "Nobody's the boss or the occupier."

US troops withdrew from towns and cities in Iraq on 30 June, six years after the invasion.

They formally handed over security duties to Iraq's own forces.

US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010 with the troop withdrawal completed by the end of 2011.

American patrols continue in some urban areas, albeit under Iraqi supervision, our correspondent reports.

The Kurds and the Arabs are at odds over oil resources and the Americans want to make sure that the fighting does not start as soon as they leave.

A potential deal to sell F-16 fighter jets to Baghdad would be lucrative and could help protect Iraq from outside threats.

But it will not solve the country's internal problems, our correspondent adds.