US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told American troops yesterday in a meeting at northern city of Iraq that their mission in Iraq remains critical despite the nation's focus on Afghanistan and that plans are on track to reduce forces starting in March as Iraqi leaders are tired ofwar and want a unified Iraq.

Gates said plans to draw down forces there after Iraq's March elections remain intact. When asked whether political turmoil might threaten that timeline. Gates said he didn't think so because all indications were that Iraqi leaders were tired ofwar and wanted a unified Iraq.

In a town hall meeting. Gates spoke with about 300 soldiers and airmen gathered outside on a sunny day at an airbase.

On Afghanistan. he predicted a 'tough fight' but that the security situation would improve as more troops arrive.

The town hall meeting came hours after Gates and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met in Baghdad for about 45 minutes on Friday morning. US officials said the meeting was similar to one a day earlier between Gates and Iraqi President Jalal Talibani, in which Gates expressed his condolences for a wave of bombings that have claimed 127 lives and rattled the country's government, and offered any assistance Iraq might need.

The third leg of Gates' unannounced tour of two major US war zones came as al-Qaeda's umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility Thursday for the strikes. The bombings wounded 500 people; lite group warned of more to come.

Senior US military officials defended die Iraqi forces' efforts even after al-Maliki expressed his displeasure by dismissing his head of security operations.

"It would be tough for any country, any government to prevent these kinds of attacks," said Lt Gen Charles Jacoby, the No 2 US commander in Iraq.

Jacoby and other US officials said die attack was a sign that al-Qaeda's grip on the fractured nation was weakening. Widi fewer fighters, the Iraqi insurgent force has turned its focus from seizing territory to occasional high-profile suicide bombings aimed at destabilizing the government.

"1 think it's all about the election right now," Jacoby said.

Regardless, the bombings have raised tough questions for al-Maliki about the ability of Iraq's security forces ahead of next year's planned withdrawal of US combat troops. The US says it plans to keep the bulk of its 120,000 forces in Iraq through the country's March 7 elections to counter violence; but it plans to leave the country entirely by December 2011.