BASRA, Iraq, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Basra on Friday, making an unannounced trip to meet U.S. and British military commanders and other officials in southern Iraq. A Reuters reporter travelling with Gates said he was expected to meet U.S. commander General George Casey among others. It is Gates's second visit to Iraq since being appointed to succeed Donald Rumsfeld, who resigned in November.
Children stand in the compound of a relative's residence, at which they are now staying after their families left their homes in Baghdad for Arbil, about 350 km (220 miles) north of Baghdad, January 19, 2007. Tens of thousands of people have fled Baghdad, the epicentre of violence in Iraq. The United Nations, launching an appeal for aid for Iraqis who have fled their homes or left the country, said this month about one in eight Iraqis is now displaced. Many, including non-Kurds, have taken refuge in Kurdistan -- a largely autonomous region in the northern mountains that has been a haven from attacks plaguing other areas since the U.S. invasion of 2003. Picture taken January 19, 2007. To match feature MIGRATION-IRAQ/ARBIL.
