Rice makes suprise stop in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, April 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad Sunday ahead of a summit with Iraq's neighbors in Kuwait, the state department said.

Rice met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid fierce fighting between the radical Mehdi Army and U.S. troops, CNN reported.

Rice is in the region for Monday's meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Bahrain and the summit of Iraqi neighbors scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The neighbors will focus on issues concerning the stabilization of Iraq, including refugees and border security, Rice told journalists traveling with her from Washington.

The meeting is "a very useful forum also for states to come to terms with the fact that they are all better served with an Iraq that is stable and moving forward, and to address what each and every one of them can do to help with the stability of Iraq," she said.

Rice said the summit provides Iran with the opportunity to pledge its support for the Maliki government, but warned its arming of "special groups" in Iraq did not back that objective.