US President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Thursday, on a morale boosting Thanksgiving Day visit to US troops in Baghdad before leaving on Air Force One to return to the US. The unannounced trip came hours after a rocket attack on the Italian embassy in Baghdad. No casualties were reported in the attack. ‘‘I bring a message on behalf of America: We thank you for your service, we are proud of you and America stands behind you,’’ Bush told about 600 soldiers, who were stunned to see the President emerge from a side door inside a military mess hall at Baghdad International Airport. Bush dropped plans to eat the traditional turkey dinner with his wife and family in order to spend two-and-a-half hours with US troops in Baghdad, making him the first US President ever to visit Iraq. The troops, mostly from the US Army’s 1st Armoured Division and the 82nd Airborne, had no idea Bush would be there. The trip came as a new US-backed plan to hand sovereignty back to Iraqis looked set to be changed after objections from the country’s most revered Shi’ite Muslim leader. The current leader of the US-installed Governing Council in Iraq said the plan would be modified to ensure a central role for Islam and to take account of the cleric’s wish that a planned transitional Assembly be elected directly. There was no immediate comment from Washington, which said earlier it would send thousands more Marines to Iraq next year to fight guerrillas it blames for attacks on US-led occupying forces. ‘‘The agreement remains, but there has to be an appendix, with other texts. The agreement is developing,’’ Governing Council President Jalal Talabani said after meeting Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. Sistani ‘‘wants the people to be consulted,’’ the current head of the Iraqi Governing Council, Jalal Talabani, said after a meeting with the top cleric here. ‘‘He wants elections to be held for the municipal councils and the legislative council,’’ he said. ‘‘For Ayatollah Sistani, the current (municipal) councils were not elected, and he has requested that the occupation forces keep their promises,’’ said Talabani. Under the US-backed plan, regional caucuses would select an interim Assembly by May end and this body would pick a transitional government the following month. The government would take over sovereignty from the US-led administration, formally ending the occupation, although foreign troops would remain. ‘‘(Sistani) requested that the allies make good on the promises they made to Iraqis. He believes, correctly, that this is democracy,’’ Talabani said. ‘‘There’s an appendix that says Islam is the religion of the majority and it must be respected and considered a main source for the constitution.’’(Reuters)
